Guardians of the Grimmoire
by The Inspectre
Summary: Like Power Rangers, or mechas and superheroes and fantasy thrown in a blender? This is a story about the Dusters. Old legends returning in a modern age to a new generation wielding advanced tools called Scrolls that allow them to become an element personified. They'll have to balance their normal lives with their new ones, fighting the creatures from the Grimmoire of Darkness..
1. Fireball

_Inspectre Online._

 _*turns down the Trivium and Psychostick he's been listening to for like, hours* Okay here's a new thing I told y'all about a few times but hadn't quite gotten to yet. YES I KNOW Lost in the Light isn't finished! I suck, but more muse was for this so.. Burn what ya got._

 _So what is said new thing? Well I took some Power Rangers, some Ultraman, some Kamen Rider (Dragon Knight in particular), Akibarangers if you know that one, basically all Super Sentai stuff and put it in a blender with some RWBY and poured it into my alchemy station and did some experimenting. Scrolls are super cool devices that let people transform into crimefighting heroes (or nefarious villains and edgy anti-heroes), Salem's the prime antagonist with her evil Grimmoire Beasts, there are mechas, and some semblance of a plot down the way. It's not gonna be like a constant stream of cases-of-the-week thing that glacially edges towards some minor movement of the story (Detective Conaaaaaaan!(or Case Closed depending on your translation)) and I have yet to decide some things so we'll figure it out at some point. Also taking a few liberties like with what certain character's weapons and Semblances may be to tweak into this story. Like I'm just guessing, maybe hoping, that Taiyang can shoot cool phantom dragons like Alady Na'ash from Super Robot Wars: OG Saga: Endless Fronter: Exceed: Electric Boogaloo, and uses a pair of badass cestus (think chain fists) to fight so.. V5 ain't out yet as of writing but the soundtrack for V4 will be!_

 _Anyway yeah if you like Power Rangers you'll like this I hope. Not gonna spoil too much. Let's get this show on the road!_

 _Oh and speaking of prime.. Metroid Prime 4 AND a Metroid II remake? Wuuuuuut?! GG Nintendo._

* * *

Milk, chips, eggs, bread, cheese, meat aaand that seemed like the last item on the list. Buggy wheels softly clattered on the grocery store floor as the blonde teen made her way to the register. Idle hands tapped on the edge before the conveyor belt while the customer ahead of her wrapped up their own purchases and paid for them. "*sigh* Wonder what dad's making tonight..? Sure had me get a lot of stuff. Not like anybody's comin' over. ..Wonder if teach will give me an extension on that essay. I-" "E-Excuse me!" "Hm?"

She looked back to the front now noticing that the person ahead of her was gone and the cashier was trying to get her attention. Whoopsie! Well at least nobody was waiting behind her. Only slightly embarrassed at being caught spacing out the buggy was slid forward a foot or so and she started unloading items onto the belt.

"Sorry, just thinkin' about school and stuff."

"Oh. You go to Valiant High too? So does my son. He might be around your age." The cashier said as she rang up items. Bip. Bip. Bip.

"Your son? My age? Yowzers you don't look that old." The woman blushed a little and had to rescan an item after missing the barcode the first time.

"Th-Thank you. Not many people tell me that these days. Everyone's always in such a rush what with the new curfew and all. In fact it's getting to be a little dark out.. You have a ride home?"

"Yeah. Got my bike outside. My dad got it for me when I turned 18. The cool yellow and black hotrod with the dragon on it? That's my girl."

She pointed outside towards the front of the store where a rather sleek motorcycle was locked down by the bicycle rack. It was mostly black with yellow flame designs on it and a golden dragon worked into the frame. A helmet with a similar theme hung from one handle. If anybody tried to take it they were in for a nasty surprise and likely a beating if the owner caught them.

"Wow. It is pretty cool. Drive safely though.. No telling what kind of monsters may be out there already." And there went the last item. Boop. All the bags were ready to go and with a few clicks the total came to.. "3,285 Lien."

"3,285?" The teen asked, raising a brow and reaching for the receipt to look it over.

"Mhmm! You don't have a rewards card here do you? Any coupons? You come here often enough."

"No.. It should have been a little more if I did my math right. Soup mix, noodles, I got the stuff for sandwiches, there's the milk and- Shoot I forgot the cereal! I gotta go get it. Umm, be right back!"

The receipt was slapped back on the counter and she started off with a jog for the cereal aisle. Didn't want to forget her cousin's important breakfast.. "Alright Chocobo Puffs, Pumpkin Pete's, Happy Bunny Bunches, umm.. Aha! Strawberry frosted mini-wheats. Yoink!" *rumble*

There was a tense pause. The lights in the store flickered and shook and a few things fell off the shelves across the other aisles. Many of the customers had also stopped in their tracks to look around in confusion. ..Wierd. But she couldn't shake this feeling- *rumble*

This time there was a lot more noise as the lights sparked again and the sounds of clattering cans, smashing bottles, falling boxes, and clanging cutlery sounded throughout the building. At this point a good portion of those still inside began nervously moving towards the front and as the teen's bracelet began to chirp she realized it was probably the best thing they could have done. "Oh come _on_ I really don't wanna do this tonight.." *SMASH*

Something large and heavy fell through the roof bringing with it crackling wires, rebar and debris, glass, and metal as it crashed to the floor creating a cloud of dust that obscured its form. Its.. Hulking black form with brightly glowing crimson eyes and tattoos across it. There was no mistaking it. The creature was a Grimmoire Beast. But what kind..?

People were edging away and backing towards the entrance with wide eyes. Then it let out a bellow that rattled the walls and everyone ran screaming. Carts were abandoned, baskets dropped. Better their lives than a few groceries. It stepped from the cloud and towered over a kid that had picked the worst time to run off from their parents. Unfortunately the Grimmoire Beast was between them and they weren't going to be able to get up and run in time. Without even caring of the danger the blonde would toss the box of cereal aside and rush through the settling dust.

A hulking form of dark muscle the minotaur was. Black fur, long sand-colored horns, and one frickin' 'hueg' battleaxe in hands with a span that the average person could stand against if it were edge-first on the ground and not to touch the opposite one. Or in other words, about 5 or 6 feet wide and about two inches thick from the center narrowing outwards. A strong tail lashed at the floor, cracks coming from every step of cloven armored hooves. The kid was understandably terrified and so were their parents. For their child and the young woman going _after it_ instead of running. It dragged the axe across the floor digging it up before raising it high, a snarl leaving its snout and a puff through the nose. Then..

"Hey beefcake!" *thunk* What. Was that a can? Who dared-

It turned around, instantly feeling pain as the golden ring in its nose was grabbed and yanked down hard. Which the teen was pretty strong but it only cowed because damn that _hurt_. "Got your nose! Now how about you pick on someone your own.. Uh.. Well, someone closer to your size! I fight back."

With its free hand the 'taur reached out and snatched her arm, crushing grip applied and returning the favor to instantly force her own open off the ring. Oh boy that hurt a looot. "Gah! H-hey kid now's a good time to run!" She shouted. Then it swung her around to the side and threw her into the shelf sending the teen into the next few aisles over. She stopped maybe four down with bags of chips and cookies and snacks piling atop her and the beast would spin back around, only to catch its prey now gone and racing for the doors along with its parents. From within the food pile came a smile. Now everyone was probably gone out of sight and that meant no witnesses..

Angered at the intrusion depriving it of a fresh and easy kill the minotaur let out another bellow and stomped the ground, pushing over the nearest shelf rack and making a further mess of the store. Someone was going to be working mondo overtime to clean this mess up. Suddenly as it decided to redirect its fury back on the one responsible for its deprivation it heard.. Popping? *poppoppop popopopop pop pop popop-* Popcorn. How the-

This time no mere rumbling or quake shook the building but a veritable explosion. The Grimmoire Beast raised its unused arm to shield its face from flying hot miscellaneous foods as the heat rose a tad around it. This woman wasn't a.. Oh Hell she was.

A spot now cleared for her to stand properly she rose up, flames spewing from a golden bracelet on her right wrist and wrapping around her body like a towel. They'd solidify with loud sizzling into clothes and such, revealing her identity as.. A Duster. An elemental vigilante, though not every one was obligated to be morally responsible with the gift. The A.U.R.A. activated with yellow flickers of electricity across her body and fists clenched, leather gloves crackling from being tightened and flexed.

Like those hands the rest of her 5'8" body was now clad in black biker gear. Leather pants, jacket adorned with a few patches, a black tank top that showed a slim amount of belly and a not-so-slim amount of cleavage and tattoos on her chest.. Ones that hadn't been there before. A studded belt with a flaming gold heart buckle held up the pants, gloves having studded wrists and combat boots ready for stomping on her feet. Topping it all off was a pair of badass black shades and a skull bandana wrapped around from her forehead to the back. Each Duster's default form tailored to their tastes, and this was hers. Back in black with a bad to the bone 'tude that was ready to rumble. "Prepare.. To get udderly defeated, cowboy." The creature groaned. God that was awful.

Then came the piece of floor thrown at her face, shattered with a fast barehanded punch. That yellow flicker appeared around the hand used again and she smiled. "Uh uh, you want a piece o' me boy? Come and get it~" The singsong way it was addressed made the minotaur rage even harder like it wasn't even considered a threat any more! No way was it gonna let her treat it like a common mob! Down went its head, horns leveled and aimed, snorting and driving a cloven hoof. So predictable.. ..Didn't make it any less likely to hurt and possibly kill her if it got the shot. At the speed it bolted, bellowing again and dragging the axe behind it it could..? Nope.

A pantomime of a matador waving a red cape was done just to further grind its gears and make it mad, playing to its weakness. More rage, more power and speed, less clarity and perception. It flew through the obstacles between them effortlessly and then some aaaall the way to the wall where it crashed into the refrigerated section. Juice and milk and tea burst everywhere as the minotaur yanked its head back to look for that damned- There! "Hey big boy! Got milk? Ahahaaha!" ..RAAAAH.

It didn't even bother taking a stance this time. It just barreled forward, having missed her the first time because she pulled off an impressive jump over it. But fool one once, shame on them. Fool them twice.. The axe came flying with a onehanded overhand swing. Shelves were split as was the floor, cracking and sundering well beyond the impact zone. A simple sidehop was all she needed and used there. It came horizontally after her neck when wrenched free, ducking this time as it cleaved right through the surrounding aisles. "Okay seriously you might wanna calm down 'cause I am sooo not paying for this."

As the Grimmoire Beast regained its balance the battleaxe was hefted up for a powerful twohanded overhead chop. Even its great and terrible strength was not enough to compensate for the momentum of its berserk attacks. The blonde seemed cornered, ruined debris behind her in a pile and too close to simply move to either side. Trying to go under it would be insane but there was no way she could just block the axe could she? A calmer snort left its nose and what seemed like a self-assured grin showed on its face. The weapon came down, whoosh! Then.. What.

Her hands were stuck to the sides of the battleaxe, teeth grit and eyes open as a visible expression of the exertion needed to do what she just did. A barehanded blade catch. The worn but nonetheless deadly sharp edge was so close the teen could have licked it. Any more and it possibly would have split into her chest and face if the A.U.R.A. didn't stop it. Not that it would have alone. Her gloves were smoking and the friction burn felt, but otherwise the mortal blow had been prevented. In fact.. No.. No! This was impossible! She was gaining the upper hand? The minotaur couldn't believe it. It was astounded. So much that by the time it snapped back to reality she was already pushing the weapon back towards it.

The beast suddenly went to lean, it and its opponent grunting to try and break the other's will with overbearing strength. The inevitable result was clear. She _was_ going to lose this game of test your might. Had to do something quick before she got pushed back too far. The only way after that was down and then in half. Summoning up every ounce of power the Duster heaved, then released her hold with the right arm and pushed with the left. The edge still drug across the top of the former as it was snapped back but with her automatic defence it amounted only to a half-inch gouge from hand to bicep. Hurt like worse though. The head of the axe surged into the floor at an angle and with that opening she gave a powerful straight punch to its midsection, audible and enough to gentle rattle the floor below them.

..Which amounted to jack all. Awkwardly her eyes slowly went up to the minotaur and she laughed in the same manner. "Heheh. I guess you do lift bro." POW. Both hands occupied with the shaft of the axe it resorted to using a foot to kick her and send her flying towards the front of the store. Part of the only area left untouched. So long as it avoided her groceries. She already paid for those. A few jerking motions saw its weapon free and the beast started advancing. Surely its stamina would outlast hers. Thus it could beat her by attrition. Unless she did something drast- *boom* ..Shouldn't have opened its mouth. Mentally speaking.

The Duster was already back on her feet and running towards her opponent, arms crossed and braced in front of her. Was she really a dumb blonde? Did she not just learn directly confronting its superior strength was a bad wait what was happening. "Alright, let's rock 'em and sock 'em! Celica Gauntlets!" Twin flares of flames came from both wrists to perform a similar process as what outfitted her with her Duster outfit. The only difference being this time she didn't just get a new instant wardrobe. From her forearms to over the hands and around the fingers appeared a pair of bright shining yellow metal gauntlets with a wonderful luster that spread to her shoulders. Oh so she had toys too. Well whatever. It'd just break her hands and rip her arms off. The battleaxe was raised for a tried and true second overhand, twohand, chop attack. Expecting this her footsteps came to a halt. Not before the strike zone but for some insane reason right within it. She even threw a punch upwards for a straight attack into the edge. Such an idiot!

Or so the minotaur thought. Until the entire half of the battleaxe met her armored fist. There was a resounding claaaang and a shockwave blew away all the rubble around their feet. And a split second after that half would spiderweb crack and shatter to pieces. The rest even flew backwards, nearly making the wielder topple over. It was astounded. Shocked. Perhaps even terrified. Then just a little bit _absolutely livid_. Obscenities and vulgarities flew around as rampant thoughts expressed with a roar of outrage that this.. HUMAN.. Was able to break its mighty axe, after making a fool of it and matching its power overwhelming! Even if she was a Duster! No to Hell with this. Clearly the axe wasn't going to work any more. The leftover was thrown aside into the wall with a long snort.

"Good idea. You're not as dumb as you look. Ready to settle things fist to fist?" The young woman asked. Not even tauntingly. After a moment of staring her down it would nod. She backed off and raised her hands to a boxing stance. Surprisingly the beast did the same eliciting a smirk. Then it took the first step. That brawny, hairy arm came up and over. Really it sure liked overhead attacks. Was it picking at their height difference? Or was it smart enough to take such things into practical consideration? Either way it necessitated a firm stance to stop, one hand of her own meeting it. The floor cracked but neither her A.U.R.A. or her stability would. However a much faster uppercut from the opposing one sent her rocketing into the ceiling. For once.. Unexpected. It was way quicker when it wasn't lugging that weapon around..

She came back down several seconds later in a heap with a loud succession of crashes, dazed, but up soon enough the minotaur couldn't take advantage of her. Her defences sparked. That had been a chunk of her armor. Not a major one but definitely enough to be more on guard. And.. Oh no it didn't.

Her shades were broken. Lenses out, frame twisted. Slowly taking them off and closing the flaps the teen tossed them aside .."You're so gonna pay for that."

And she reached over and picked up a buggy, hurling it contents and all before charging forward. She was a blur, moving in while the beast swat the object away. The blows that hit its midsection rocked it hard. Quickly the realization came that these punches had much, much more force behind them than previous. Those gauntlets and that glow had to be the source.. Not that figuring it out did a lick of good.

Third time was the charm it believed, bringing both hands up and clasping them together. Then.. Down! Right on top of her for a furious hammer blow that would knock her flat and break her bones and- and she was gone. Backwards in a flash. The missed attack sent another shockwave out and shattered the floor, the quake rattling the building. The interior looked like a storm had blown through by this point. Neither combatant had really cared about potential collateral damage anyway.

This woman was fast though. Maybe even faster than she had been previously. Could it be her true capability was being held back the entire time? Maybe adrenaline was just giving her the boost. The former was both insulting and worrisome to even consider, the latter more preferable and likely. Just had to burn her out. Make her lose steam. Suddenly she was on top of those arms, nose ring held tight again in one hand like a rein while her dominant arm flew with violent force. Each shot she took hit like a pickup truck and felt even worse. Forget the damn pain and the ring, she was coming off NOW.

Snatching her by the back of her outfit the Grimmoire Beast would raise her up and throw her straight down into the floor leaving a nice tile angel/crater thing. Bloody Hell the hole it left in its nose amounted to so much pain, further fueling rage. Her A.U.R.A. flickered weakly, before she could push up to her hands and knees it grabbed her again and took off running. Right for the nearest wall of shelves and display cases. She was drug THROUGH them quite painfully so, this going on all the way accompanied by a victorious bellow down the wall until it reached the corner, stopped, and spun to throw the Duster aaaaall the way across to the opposite wall where she smashed into it and crumpled up on the floor after passing through some of the few aisles left standing. Her armor barely flickered that time and she didn't move very quickly..

Finally. Good lord the little human was done for. It admitted to itself that she fought very well for her species but this was to be her end. It casually trudged over to take its half-battleaxe out of the wall before slowly ambling on over to her. But it refused to cut her down that instant. Feeling a rush of pride and wanting to gloat the minotaur 'deigned' to let her at least get up and face death like a warrior. Her face was bloody, clothes damaged a good bit, some minor wounds elsewhere on her body. Yet she still made it up. What tenacity. What endurance. What a bright flame aw why the Hell did it wait? "Sweep. **ERUPTION FIST**."

Her arm exploded, fire engulfing it and raging like a tiny wildfire. The Grimmoire Beast had been so confident that it was nowhere near in the proper positioning to stop the massive attack that came next. Another gut punch, but this one erupted kinda like the name implied it would. There was a brilliant yellow light left on its abdominal region as it staggered backwards and dropped the axe to the floor. Every bit of air had left its lungs. Looking down- What was that? Some kind of rune? It sizzled with the sound of a lit fuse, other smaller fast-burning ones being planted around it once it began to burn orange itself since a series of rapid fire bullet punches proceeded it directly after, those in turn accompanied by a cry of 'atatatatata!'. Or perhaps it was 'oraoraoraoraora!'?

Didn't matter either way. Soon they all detonated, blowing the creature way across, through, and outside the store into the alleyway beside it. After crashing into the brick and mortar it dropped on its bottom, head just limply hung. Well.. That was it then.. It could hardly feel anything. All it smelled was burning flesh, all it saw was darkness and stars. But it heard footsteps. The Duster was coming to finish the job as she should.

"Y'know we kinda agreed on a fist to fist thing didn't? I don't like cheaters. Put up a heck of a good fight though. Maybe if you hadn't been a monster we coulda been friends or something. Oh well. Nothin' we can do about it now. Hasta la vista baby." The next and last thing it heard was a shotgun pump, then the trigger pull before a large bore hole replaced the spot a few vital organs used to be. Now dead, the beast gradually began to decompose at an accelerated rate. Even the skeleton eventually disappeared after a few minutes, leaving only its axe as a sign it ever was.

Oh and a loooot of wreckage inside what used to be recognizable as a grocery store.

But the blonde intended to be gone long before anyone came back to find it. No doubt the soldiers were coming with the report of another attack by the black shadowy entities known as Grimmoire Beasts. Her wounds were nothing serious. They could be explained. As her bracelet pulsed and signalled a low energy reserve she would tap it. The gun, a golden firearm reminiscent of a SPAS-12 Benelli shotgun, would fladh and disappear along with her gauntlets. Her clothes burned away, replaced in yellow light by the ones she had on previously. Blue jeans, a yellow v-neck t-shirt, regular sneakers..

Of course there were things to be taken care of. Picking up a decently large chunk of the broken half of the axe head some tears were made in relatively accurate areas, using her hands to finish the job. Had to protect her identity and come up with a cover story after all. Blood was already soaking through so that was accounted for and a quick hop and roll around different piles of debris put on the finishing touches. It felt so.. Ugh. But had to be done.

After that she hurried to the front. Hopefully- Yes! Her items were miraculously untouched. A few Lien was taken out and set on the register for the cereal she had yet to pay for and on her way out her phone rang. With a groan it was fished out and answered, a certain little brunette's photo coming up in the caller ID. "Yello?"

 _"Yang? Oh my gosh where are you what's happening are you on your way home we heard from our neighbor another monster's been seen in town where we go shopping and-"_

"Whoa hey slow your roll cous'. I'm.. Alright."

 _"Yaaang..!"_

"*sigh* ..Yeah there was a monster here. I got held up but before you panic!-"

It sounded like the girl on the other end had went to speak again but then stopped.

"-I'm okay. Nothing broken, I'm not gonna bleed to death, and I got the stuff for dinner." She assured her.

 _"Screw dinner!"_ Ooh when did she start talking back like that..? Feisty. Maybe she was rubbing off on her young cousin. _"You're not gonna be able to drive home like that are you? Call a cab or an ambulance or something!"_

"I promise, I'm fine."

 _"Dad's been worried sick. You shoulda been home by now.."_ Ruby's voice dropped a little bit and Yang felt a pang of guilt.

"I couldn't exactly get to my phone and traffic was a little thicker than usual tonight. If it makes you feel any better though I will get fixed up the second I get home okay? Scout's honor."

 _"..You weren't in the scouts."_ Came the delayed and playfully accusatory response.

"It's the thought that counts right? Wait which dad? Yours or mine?"

 _"Both our dads obviously."_ Snickering could be heard on the other end of the line.

"Rubes we talked about this. Uh, phrasing?" More snickering and Yang couldn't help but snicker too. Then a section of wall, barely clinging for life fell with a crash. And she heard sirens. About time..

 _"What was that?"_

"Dropped a thing. Gotta jet!"

She was on her bike, revving the engine after starting it and peeling out off into the night. Just as a shadow under the storefront began to wriggle and whisper to itself.

* * *

 _Ermahgerbil so hueg._

 _So I hope y'all enjoyed this thingamawabbajack. References, action, uh.. ..Okay that's pretty much it. But yeah._

 _That's Guardians of the Grimmoire! Brothers Grimm, a grimoire is a book of rituals, spells, incantations.. The brothers wrote the fairy tales anyway I really couldn't think of a better title. I swear it'll make sense further down the road. And we haven't even begun to see the full potential of the Dusters. That was a teaser. I mean don't go expecting any casual mountain-busting feats or whatevs. We'll also see pleeeenty more Dusters in the future. If you can guess what the rest of the cast might use then go ahead! But I won't confirm or deny any. Even if they're incredibly obvious. Also it won't be limited to just elements and mechas. There'll be some magic and mental stuff later on too._

 _I better go before I spoil too much. And yeah I know interest seems to have dwindled in Lost in the Light but still working on it. Hopefully this is more successful. Also go check out LegolasDragonRanger's stuff. Especially if you like Pokemon._

 _Hrrrm so close to 5k. Let's do some shameless ramble padding! I got a PS4 recently. Grimm Eclipse is ON IT?! Y'all comin' to slay some Grimm with me. Also, Monster Hunter World looks freakin' BEAST. Pun intended. Y'all can totes ask for my 3DS friend code, PSN ID, yadda yadda, if y'all want. I got Monster Hunter 3U, 4U, Generations, obviously gonna get Generations 2 and World. Unrelated note I also got Disgaea 5:Alliance of Vengeance, The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival, Dark Souls III: Fire Fades, and Skyrim remastered: Special Edition. And Gravity Rush 2 which was my main reason for getting a PS4. Now we got the xXx-XboxOneX-xXx and the Playstation 5 coming out. Heh. About time. And I still need a Switch. Taste BoTW for myself._

 _Peacizzles._

 _Inspectre Offline._


	2. Road to Greatness

_Inspectre Online._

 _Alright this story got a little bit of attention. Not bad for the preview. And I forgot to title the chapter also I know I saw a spelling error in my second check over. Bah. Anyway I was RPing some of the Dusters and got more moose- I mean muse for writing so here we go!_

 _Also apologies for being gone for like 5evar. Motivation has been all over the place. Like gaming, watching anime, etc._

 _At guest: I do! Well don't go nowhere!_

 _At GrnDrgnzrd: How'd I know you'd be here? Glad to see ya. ..Wait that's considered long? Huh. Okay then. Maybe 'cause it consisted most of the chapter. ..No that doesn't sound right. Comprised most of the chapter there we go. Yeah I'm a fan of that kind of writing. Won't see it all the time, especially in fights with serious stakes or emotion behind them. Honestly I wasn't even thinking of the Yellow trailer when writing this but I see your point. Convo with Ruby right after busting up a public location, stuff falling apart. Nighttime._

 _Now, here's a real chapter. Should be longer than the last one (Edit: It wasn't but hey I'll make up for it next chapter, or try to anyway) and we get a little bit more to the story._

* * *

 _As he looked out over the ruins of what once had been a major city, rain began to fall.. Fifty. Fifty long horrible years since the war started. Nobody expected them to rise up. Nobody expected them to become.. Alive. It started with isolated incidents. Testing the waters as it were. Just to end up as downplayed news reports courtesy of the men in black._

 _They didn't stay isolated for long._

 _The attacks became more frequent. Bigger. Bolder. Soon they went from little incursions to full-scale assaults. It was expected but nobody truly believed it would come to an all out-_ "Meh, seen it already." "Aw c'mon! You're gonna have the TV all day!"

Yang rolled her eyes and changed the channel on the television while munching on a cheese-covered bagel. She and a shorter, younger girl with very dark brown hair and silver eyes sat next to eachother at the table. The small flatscreen up in the corner of the kitchen clicked off suddenly and protests came from both of them. "You know the rules girls, no TV during breakfast. If you get distracted you're gonna miss the bus."

Tall, stubble chin, slightly messy blonde hair, the man known as Taiyang Xiao Long would enter the room and walk straight to the counter with a second remote in hand. It looked like he just got out of bed, dressed in just a pair of black pajamas with colorful dragons all around the legs. Popping open the refrigerator he took out some milk, reached for a shelf and got a bowl and spoon, and got to work on making the rest of his niece's breakfast. When he noticed the top of the box was open a small frown came to his face.

"Ruby.. How many times have I told you to stay out of the cereal? Unless-"

"Oh, that was me dad. I forgot to close it. I ran out of mine."

"Oh. My mistake."

'Ruby', the girl in the black skirt and maroon shirt with a corgi-covered backpack on the floor next to her, would make a face at him causing him to chuckle. "Hey don't act like I've never caught you doing it before."

"Pfft. Can you turn the TV back on though pleeeaase? I did all my homework last night before I went to bed." She pleaded.

"Like you're supposed to? ..Alright but you better not lose track of time."

"Yay!"

"Just this once, and only what I pick."

"Aww."

The television came back on with a click and buzzed to life. Channels began switching and when it landed on the news channel Ruby suddenly exclaimed for him to leave it. Her bowl clattered on the table along with a glass of orange juice and a spoon.

"Really? Since when were you interested in the news? Never thought I'd see the day-" "Shh the monster attack from the other night! They're covering it!"

All three of them looked towards the screen, Taiyang towards Yang for a brief moment and she tried her best to ignore the narrowing of eyes on her. A reporting crew was inside the grocery store in question where officers were examining the scene of the situation and workers were attempting to salvage what was left. With who was standing by the reporter holding the microphone they seemed to be interviewing the manager, all dressed up in his reddish-brown pinstripe suit and trousers.

"Dunno what you're so excited about. It was just like all the other ones."

"Yeah but you were in it and everybody's saying Ember was there too! How come you never saw her?"

"I was kinda busy trying to escape?" Yang said back. Ruby let out a quiet 'oh yeah' before filling her mouth with a spoonful of strawberry mini-wheats and turning her attention back to the screen. So she didn't notice the look Taiyang sent his daughter's way again. Nor did Yang.

 _"And were you present at the store when it happened?" The reporter asked, holding the microphone closer._

 _"I was not, actually I was on my way to pick up some documentation I needed to fill out regarding health codes but naturally I was bombarded with calls and texts moments after the attack began." The portly mustachioed man said._

 _"I see. Curiously, you say 'attack' where the police and government have been saying 'incidents'.." She noted with a suspecting tone._

 _"Dear me, you mean to say you believe the appearance of the 'Dusters' and these 'monsters' are coincidence?"_

 _"A lot of theories ARE going around. That the Dusters are experimental soldiers, or perhaps invaders from the Fragment. These monsters could be-"_

 _"Yes my dear I've heard the conspiracies and supposedly mad raving lunacies. As crazy it sounds on paper any of these things could be true. What is fact, is that these people are protecting lives and that the monsters are in turn seeking to tear them apart." He would say, holding his shirt and puffing his chest. The reporter smiled, then nudged the microphone towards him again after posing another question. After all.._

 _"So they are. Most of them anyway. Then you have other.. Not so heroic Dusters. Quicksilver's a notorious burglar and trespasser, Lotus-"_

 _"With great power comes great responsibility, and a selected person's responsibility is to choose how they will use that power. It is sad to see them make those decisions, but I am also joyous that there are at the least just as many upstanding role models among them as there are lawbreakers. Frost of Atlas for one is someone I'd say to be the epitome of an outstanding moral guardian. Her intimidating appearance aside."_

 _"And.." This time the reporter bore a more amused smile as she looked around the ruins of the grocery store. "What about mayhem-causing Dusters like Ember? It's been confirmed she was at the scene and collateral damage comes with reports of her involvement like fries with burgers."_

 _The portly man wiggled his mustache, stumbling a bit for an answer. Still slightly smirking the woman only budged the microphone with a raised brow. "Well.. That is.."_

 _"You aren't upset by this? Insurance only covers so much, but it won't put this place back up overnight." Another pause. Then.._

 _"*sigh* I would be lying if I tried to say I wasn't upset about my business being trashed as if a storm rolled its way through. However the price to pay is far exceeded by the value I place on the safety of my customers and workers. Some were injured, yes, but everyone made it out alive and that is what I'm thankful for. I'd sooner see it reduced to pebbles and crumbs than have an innocent life lost on these grounds. I begrudge Ember nothing for protecting the people of Valiant and the community."_

 _The woman smiled as he puffed up his chest again and brought her microphone back once she faced the camera. "Well there you have it. They may be a mixed bag, and everyone has their opinions, but this reporter believes that the protector of the Patchworks is one Duster that we can ultimately rely on. Though I think she could benefit from learning a little restraint. Back to you Lisa."_

 _"Thank you Velvet. In other news monster attacks have increased in frequency at the edge of Atlas' capital of Orpheus and-"_ *click*

"See! Ember was there!" Ruby cheered. Taiyang mouthed 'eat!' as he went to fix something for himself. Coffee for starters.

"Whatever. She's not that great." Yang said with an eyeroll.

"Not that great are you kidding? She's totally badass!"

"Ruby!"

"Err, badbutt?" Her cousin laughed and Taiyang was the one to facepalm and shake his head. "Well still. Sure she wrecks a lot of stuff but she always wins and saves the day like a hero! She kills monsters and doesn't afraid of anything!"

"Do what now?" Yang blinked.

"I said she isn't afraid of anything. Oh and even though she wears all that biker stuff, she's probably really pretty too. Her hair's even kinda like yours-"

"Heeey you know what time it is? Time to get to school before you miss the bus!" The blonde interrupted, pretending to snatch at her bowl.

"Lemme eat first!"

"Then hurry up Slowbro!"

Ruby was quickly ushered to eat her breakfast, polishing off the orange juice on the way to the door and setting the cup on a stand. There was a barking noise as the door popped open and closed, leaving a silent home as Yang licked cheese off of her fingers. ..Then caught her father watching her with a stern gaze. "What? Still got cheese on my face?"

"..." The man was leaning against the entryway to the kitchen, coffee cup in hand that _had_ read 'Number 1 Dad!' until a certain birdman childishly slapped on a label that read '#2' over it instead. Yang started to look confused until he raised a finger, curling it inwards and then moving into the living room. Clearly she was meant to follow and clearly a talk was about to be had. Groan..

...

After nuzzling her corgi Zwei, who followed her off the porch just for a few feet, Ruby set off down the short walkway leading from their home to the curb where one of her closest friends was waiting. It was always a 'treat' to see her since they'd been tightly knit for as long as either could remember. Sure she was mute, and liked to play with sharp things (Ruby vividly remembered the wall of weapons in her bedroom from the first visit) but Nia was a sweet girl. ..Even though she had a fearsome gleam in her eyes when she got ahold of anything with a filed edge.

Of course sweet was meant in more ways than one. ..Not tasting sweet though they weren't like that. Just super BFFs. See aside from objects that cut and stabbed Nia also had a thing for ice cream. If one looked at her long horsetail of dyed hair which was half pink and half brown with white streaks interspersed throughout, they'd be able to guess her love of niapolitan ice cream in particular. It was of course a coincidence her first name was Nia but many still found it amusing.

"Heeey Nia! Ready for another day of school?" Ruby asked as she walked up and hugged her friend, who was in a similar uniform as hers but with tights instead of thigh high stockings and a skirt that was a inch closer to violating the dress code.

"..." Nia nodded, replying with sign language to ask how her cousin was doing after the incident at the grocery store which she'd caught the news report of on her phone. It was easier than just carrying around a ton of flash cards with pre-written statements and it wasn't like she could pull out a magical sign that said whatever she was thinking. That only happened in silly cartoons and chibi anime.

"Huh? Oh yeah she's fine. Nothing could keep her down. It wasn't like her wounds were serious anyway. Yang got discharged the morning after." Ruby answered as they started walking to the bus stop. ..Huh. Nobody else was up there. Guess they caught their own rides this morning. Well that just meant more seats to choose from!

The two girls goofed about on their phones, gossiped, shared funny pictures and etc before the Valiant High school bus rolled on up to a stop at the curb, doors sliding open for them to board. A friendly morning greeting was exchanged between them and the scruffy but nice driver with the artificial leg before they plopped down right behind the second passenger row. Doors closed, and they were off.

Nothing much changed, they still idly passed the time with games and random topics of conversation, a few jokes, whatever was new in their lives as the bus rolled through the city. Though she didn't show it the recent monster attack had actually weighed more on the silver-eyed girl's mind than she let on. What if something horrible had happened to her cousin..? She wouldn't have been able to fight that thing alone. Not unless she was a Duster, but how crazy would that be huh? 'Wish I was one' Ruby thought to herself. It'd be so cool to be a superhero, saving people and beating up those wierd monsters that kept cropping up around the country.

Ruby had effectively zoned out, lost in her own little world of imagination and thought. She pictured herself as a caped heroine with a big ol' gun and a cool costume, Zwei in a matching outfit at her side. Yeah.. That'd be so cool.

Suddenly she was pulled out of that train of thought by Nia, who had grabbed her arm and started shaking her to get her attention. "Hu-Hey what's wrong Nia? I didn't fall asleep again-" The tricolored mute turned her head to face the front of the bus and there she saw it. A.. Monster. In broad daylight. Not that such a thing was unheard of but definitely uncommon. The cracked asphalt below its feet hinted that it had dropped from a great height, probably a nearby rooftop. Oh.. Crap. She shouted.

The bus driver, who had been eying the right hand side to change lanes, looked forward as soon as he heard her voice and the brakes were stomped to the floor. The wheels locked up and rubber burned and peeled as they tried to stop before they hit.

It wouldn't do much good.

The monster wasn't what one might expect when they heard the word but up to this point there was no 'official term' given for these strange creatures and entities that had recently with the appearance of the Dusters, started to make their presences known. This one in particular was not unlike the Statue of David, a human body of stone made animate by an unknown force. It however did have 'clothes' that defied physics as they and its body were as flexible as regular cloth and human flesh respectively yet retained the texture, strength, and hardness of solid rock. A sort of Grecian half toga that left one arm exposed and part of its chest, ending in a 'skirt' right above the knees with a thick studded band around its midsection, strapped shinguards and shoes, and bracers on its forearms.

The design was reminiscent of a soldier from Mistralian soil but that scary big chaingun over its shoulder was a glaringly obvious anachronism, and as the bus nearly ran it down in the street even as it braked for dear life it deftly stepped aside, swinging that chaingun down and over with an earthshattering impact into the side of the vehicle. That knocked it right off its wheels sending the bus to screech loudly frm the friction of steel on gravel as it landed on the driver side and slid across the road. Ruby and Nia fell from their seats due to this, hitting the cracked and in some cases shattered windows that now constituted the floor with the vehicle tipped over.

"Oow my shoulder! Ow ow ow.. Nia are you okay..? Nia?" Ruby asked, growing increasingly worried as she picked herself up as best she could then reached over for the other girl. Panic sunk in as something wet was felt under her, her hand coming back red when she touched Nia's head. Oh no. Oh no oh no. Heart stopping for a brief moment Ruby remembered something her cousin taught her and pressed her fingertips to Nia's neck, wrist, middle of her bicep.. Okay, still a pulse. Still breathing. Thank god..

It would take more than prayer though to save them from the monster that took its time strolling to the back of the bus, peeling off the emergency exit door there and glaring at the still conscious occupants. Some screamed, others cried, a few tried to scramble for the front of the bus. Ruby's eyes widened when through the chaos she both heard and saw those chaingun barrels start to rev up.. Instinctively she wrapped her arms around Nia both for protection and a bit of comfort. Then..

* * *

 _Then confetti flew everywhere. Theee end. But not really._

 _Gawd that took long enough. Again sorry about the wait. I didn't even know it'd been so long. I've just been really sucked into playing my new, or at least it was new like two months or so ago, PS4. Also didn't help my phone charger burned up somehow. It's not a simple common charger either. Some new 'fast charge' style with a bigger piece on the end. I have a bag of regular chargers but,not these!_

 _Oh yeah the point of that being this chapter was on my new phone and not my tablet so.. Sure wasn't gonna try to rewrite it from memory. Had to wait to get a new charger/borrow one. Anyway.._

 _Hopefully I can keep muse for this story (or at least writing in general) going between bouts of The Witcher III, Warframe, Disgaea 5, and etc. But for now, enjoy! Yes that is a cliffhanger muahahaha._

 _Also NEW RWBY SEASON AND MIRACULOUS LADYBUG SEASON AS WELL FOR THE END OF THIS YEAR. What a time to be alive._

 _Inspectre Offline._


	3. Time For A Hero

_INSPECTRE ONLI*slaps Caps Lock button*ne._

 _There we go._

 _Awright so kick on the nightcore 'cause this ball is rolliiiiin'! ..I mean it seems like not really many people are gonna see it but hey I didn't take up writing fanfiction for views and popularity._

 _So I figured I'd just start in the next chapter right after posting the previous one. Wynaut amirite. Since obviously there's no reviews at the moment.. (Edit: Whoa, the review count just doubled!) *skips to the writing part* *peeks back at the last two chapters to make sure he doesn't do anything stoopid again like forgetting Weiss lost an eye in The Royal Test*_

 _Also I will never stop putting references and memes (mostly the former) in my fics. You can take them from my cold dead hands. But not really because I will actually become a zombie and tear your fingers off._

 _At GrnDrgnzrd: Quite a few references in here. I may run out some day. Or just miss some opportunities. Prior to getting her powers? Hmmmmm jumping the gun a little. Not gonna be that cliche. Soon though. Soon.. Like.. I dunno, could be next chapter. Could be NEVER. ..But yeah who knows. Me? Not telling. Also nice to have you back. I hear people are really, and I mean really, pissed about the whole 'shaders are now one-use microtransaction/random drop items'. I've never played Destiny but while I can understand putting cosmetic items into an RNG/microtransaction system (Warframe at least lets you earn them both by being able to trade ingame for premium currency and get alternate helmets and weapon skins as daily drops) putting COLOR OPTIONS into that system? Come on man. Coloring should be free. Anyway catch ya later._

 _At Felan Lupus: In order.. 1. Stuff. 2. Find out! 3. See previous, also above. 4. Eh? 5. Of course! Also boom, update._

* * *

The chaingun spat fire and hot lead as a bulletstorm ripped through the bus, a slow left and right motion practically sawing through the top?/right? half. It didn't seem intent on actually killing the people on it though. If it did it had really, really fawful aim.

Ruby's ears were ringing, other students still scrambling and crawling to try and get away from the monster statue. It was slow and steady in the approach, looking around as if it expected something that wasn't there to be there. Did it have some kind of agenda..? Were they that intelligent, or was it taking orders? Not that these things mattered much to the girl whose mind was far from the why and who of the situation, moreso towards the how. As in how to get out of there alive along with Nia and the others.

Gunshots, this time from a smaller and less powerful gun, rang from in front of her after the bus driver took aim with a .45 handgun getting a few hits in on its chest and one to the head. Most ricocheted into the vehicle frame or windows leaving tiny cracks that soon filled and smoothed over, the few embedding rounds easily knocked out with a fingertip. Retaliation had been expected but surprisingly none came.

It had to be searching for someone or something and it didn't like that it would leave empty-handed. Perhaps with tranquil misplaced anger the living statue turned back on the cowering occupants of the bus and hefted the chaingun, barrels slowly spinning into action. This time its sights were aimed downward towards the students and this time it would shred them and fill them full of hole- *thok*

A piece of asphalt smacked into the back of its head, eliciting the response of turning around and opening fire on whoever was dumb enough to provoke it. Ruby glanced past it and that's when she saw.. Almost looked like a wizard were it not for the choice of clothing. That hat tho. Could it be a Duster?!

Tall, slim, a long brown leather duster coat wrapped their body in enigma and mystery, collar high to their ears with a slightly curved back pointed hat atop their head to shroud their face in a supernatural impenetrable shadow. Gloved hands gripped a black staff with a rotating silver disc which hovered perfectly centered inside a series of rings that formed the framework outline of a sphere.

One side of that disc would slide open, cover retracting into the rim as a hazy energy began to flow around it. A very fast eye, something Ruby did not have, would note the face of a clock with roman numerals for the times and a static set of hands inside that disc. A pulse emanated from the staff's tip as it was swung in a sweeping arc in front of the mysterious stranger. Like in action movie bullet time the stream of lead that came their way was slowed to a meager few inches per second rapidly building up a hanging garden of bullets that they weaved and ducked aside through until they stopped coming. Tch.

With a breathless heave the chaingun was held by its end to be swung and thrown at the stranger. Again a pulse of energy came from the clock, a second one following from their feet outward as their form glowed with an outline of silver. Almost too fast to see they were gone and back in place as it flew through empty space, smashing and bouncing across the street. Would things have to be settled with its fists? It was more than happy to do so that way.

It didn't get far. About three strides with a reached-back fist until a powerful dust-scattering blast of more hazy energy saw it freeze in place, silver wisps surrounding the living statue. From there on the shadowed one would pace slowly past, throwing the staff like a javelin into the front windshield shattering the glass and sending it outwards. _"Go. Get away from here."_ They finally spoke, gently raising a hand and causing the staff to reverse along its previous forward path through the bus back into their hand. His hand, as it sounded like an older man. Almost.. Familiar? Ruby felt lightly dizzy for a moment as she tried to recall why it was.

Nobody needed to be told twice. The rest of them would hurry out of the toppled bus to safety, the driver ushering them out before leaving himself. He stopped to look back at Nia and Ruby but the stranger gave him a nod then made a 'go, I have this' gesture.

"..." They knelt down by the two girls, staff in one hand as the other hovered over the injured one's head. Faint silver light emanated from the palm and the injury seemed to fade away, 'healing' by reversing in how the injury had appeared until it was like it had been before. Nonexistent.

"Y-You're a Duster." Ruby stammered, finally finding her voice.

 _"Indeed. You're lucky I was here or things could have turned out quite badly."_ He said.

"I know. And.. Th-Thank you. For helping her." She then said, placing a hand on Nia's shoulder. The man stood up, glancing aside at the still frozen statue. Ruby looked at it too before focusing on him.

 _"You want to be a Duster too don't you? Helping others.. Protecting lives.. Fighting evil."_ The question came suddenly.

"Huh?"

 _"I can somewhat sense things about people. Some call it 'having a hunch'. I think of it as intuition. I can see it in your eyes. You want to be a hero too."_ Ruby stared at him, curious. That was.. Pretty accurate actually. Why was he asking though?

"I.. Yeah. My cousin.. She was in that grocery store when the monster attacked the other day. When I found out I was scared because she could have been hurt. I thought what if that had been me? Or if I had been there, what could I have done? I know I can't fight monsters but-"

 _"But if you did have the power.. You think it'd be a fairy tale life from then on?"_ He interjected. Ruby shook her head but he continued.

 _"Do you think that you can just swoop in when trouble arises, save the day? That good always triumphs over evil? The police, the military.. They don't have powers like Dusters. They have technology but that doesn't make them perfect. Nor does it make us perfect. Sometimes people still get hurt or die. Sometimes we fail."_

That left Ruby silent, stumped for a response. He was right. Yeah, sometimes things go wrong and there's not always a perfectly happy ending. BUT.. "The important part is trying. Doing the best we can. Nobody can be perfect but that's not an excuse not to try." She said, getting to her feet along with Nia as she picked the girl up.

 _"Do you think you could handle that pressure though? Sometimes you have to make tough choices. Deal with the results of your decisions, live with mistakes and regrets over what you did or didn't do. It's a heavy weight to bear at times. Not all Dusters are heroes but the gifted ones who try to be.. This life isn't glamorous. There's more to this than you realize. You'd be endangering yourself every time you chose to don the mantle."_ 'But it'd be worth it.' Ruby responded, looking to her friend. If it meant being able to be there when others couldn't be. The world could always stand to have another hero.

That brought out a small chuckle in the man, satisfied with her answer. Idealistic, optimistic, and charismatic too. But why the questions? Ruby asked him if he just conveniently had the ability to make people into Dusters.

 _"Oh, nothing like that. Only the Scrolls can do that and they have a way of getting to their new owners on their own whims. I was just curious. ..Disappointed? I didn't mean to lead you on."_

"I wasn't- It just seemed kinda random is all."

 _"Perhaps. You'd best be going now. Take care of your friend, she clearly means a lot to you."_ The stranger turned around, gripping his staff. The statue was starting to 'thaw' rather conveniently now, effect of the ability he used waning. Sirens could be heard in the distance but should he leave it to the police? This one could be dangerous even without a weapon. Then the sounds of a helicopter's rotors came from overhead, a look outside and a peering gaze giving him ease. Well then.. Time to go. Once more energy pulsed from the staff and his feet, and with accelerated speed the mysterious Duster was gone like The Flash. Meanwhile, fingers and toes flexed on the statue, brow twitching as it began to move glacially again into the road. Up above however..

 **...**

 ***inside the black and gold helicopter***

 **...**

There were three of them, silent spectres dressed in black commando unit armor and kevlar. Multi-optic visors sent intimidating glowing looks towards the ground below and with but a single word they'd shoot to kill at the hostile marked on their HUDs. However, wait they would for their captain's order.

Inhaling then exhaling a stream of smoke from a cigar they watched through the mounted cameras footage of the stone creature as it slowly but surely began to regain control of itself. "..Wierd motley mix of monsters these things are. The other day it was a minotaur, then a harpy snake thing, now a walking statue. What's next, a black wizard commanding an army of spriggans? ... Tch. There he goes. Or she. Hard to tell. Letting us sweep up the mess huh?"

 _"Probably thinks it's best to let us prove we can handle the situation. People are starting to place more faith in those Dusters than standard law enforcement."_ One of the agents said, mask giving their voice a muffled effect. The leader just hmph'd.

"That changes today boys and girls. Command is finally giving us free reign over pursuit and preventative measures.. These freakshows are going to learn not to mess with humanity."

 _"What about the Dusters?"_ Another asked curiously, looking back over their shoulder slightly with an aside glance. The man paused to take another puff of his cigar.

"What about them? We'll rein them in. I wish they'd all follow Frost's example." One of the agents commented on how unnerved Frost made them but it was dismissed with a handwave.

 _"Target's moving again sir. What are your orders? We could blow out its legs from the kneecaps down and capture it_." One suggested.

"..There's no point. What, to study them? Try to understand? They're a threat. Terrorists attacking our homelands and terrifying our people. You know what we should do with them?" There was a silent pause that nobody broke as he snuffed the end of the cigar out into the palm of his gloved hand. **"Kill."**

Laser sights clicked on. Rounds were chambered and bolts pulled back. That statue noticed the first quickly, looking skyward before a pattern of shots rang out. Each one separated by an instance just long to get a few blinks in. The anti-materiel rifles first smashed its head to rubble, followed by blowing off its legs, then arms, reducing it to a mere torso that was obliterated by precise shots. Now laying in the dust completely shattered it would no longer be a threat. Just something for the regular cops to sweep up into evidence bags.

 _"Hostile down. Uber down."_

"Good. ..Take us back to headquarters. We're done here. Let the police handle the rest."

The special agents all stood up, safeties on their rifles as they then leaned them against the wall of the helicopter to sit down for the remainder of their flight. The leader would give one last contemptuous look at the broken statue before flicking the stub of his cigar out the opening, landing it around the general area with a scoff.

 **...**

 ***a short time later at the local police station***

 **...**

Ruby stepped out of the office, rubbing the side of her head. They'd asked a lot of questions and it was kinda nerve-wracking.. Right now she just wanted to find Nia and check on her again. Not that she didn't trust the Duster who healed her but it would assuage her fear of any remaining effects from having her head cracked in that accident. Well, attack.

Which the chief of police had numerous times asked the girl about from different angles. What kind of monster it was, what purpose did it seem to have. Did it speak or try to communicate? Display any behavior more unusual than usual? Seems he'd tried to get as much information as possible from the students involved that would come forth with it. Couldn't blame him really. Just trying to do his job.

After the Duster had left she followed the driver down the block to a spot the rest of her schoolmates had all gathered in, away from the scene. He'd come back just to make absolutely sure they were safe. From there they were safeguarded by the first police cruiser that arrived, ambulances and EMTs showing up shortly after. Not a single fatality or serious injury, just a couple of moderate ones and some very distressed individuals.

Naturally parents and guardians were called, those who weren't immediately released into their care staying behind to speak with the police or be treated for their injuries on site. Knowing them, her dad(s) and Yang would be there very soon.. Ruby wanted nothing more than to go home at this point anyway.

"Mrr.. Head hurts." The girl grumbled, stepping into the waiting room. A kind officer nearby offered her some water but she declined. Where was- Nia! The two embraced, holding eachother tightly now that they were reunited. Hand signs were made at a speed she could barely follow asking all sorts of questions. "Hey hey slow down, I'm alright. Just had to answer a bunch of questions is all. How about you? Your head okay?"

Nia nodded, smiling when Ruby gently touched then pat it. Of course suddenly through the door came her actual father looking like he'd seen a ghost. Black trousers, button down gray shirt with a three-legged crow on the back.. His normally slicked back dark gray hair was a mess, stubbled face and crimson eyes bearing an expression of worry as he jogged to his daughter's side. "Ruby! Thank god, you wouldn't believe it.. Thought I was gonna lose my mind."

"I'm alright dad. It was scary but I'm fine."

"I know you are kiddo. You're made of tough stuff just like your mom. I was talking about that skirt behind the greeting counter though. An inch higher and you could see her-" "D-Dad!" She facepalmed. Typical of him.. Seeing her reaction he would laugh, then his face fell to be a bit more serious now.

"Really though.. How you holdin' up? You didn't get hurt did you? It's no joke being in a monster attack. Those things don't show any mercy. To anybody." Qrow stated grimly, crossing his arms.

"No. I think I got lucky though. It seemed like it was.. Looking for something? Or someone.. Nia hit her head but she's better now. ..It was a Duster. He had this really cool ability to make things fast and slow." Eh? Huh.. Almost raised a brow at that. Sounded like.. Time? That was interesting. Most Dusters he'd heard of used more 'elemental' elements like earth, fire, ice, the classic types. Guess technically speaking time could be an element..

"You definitely got lucky. If they hadn't shown up who knows what could've happened. The police might not have gotten there on time. ..Your cousin would've been on that bus if she didn't have a doctor's note to take it easy for a day or two." The man noted. Maybe this one was trying to chase people who had been at the previous attack in Valiant? Or maybe.. No. They couldn't _know_.

"So would a few other kids I know. I guess they went with their parents today or whatever. ..It was wierd though. He asked me if I wanted to be a Duster-" "No." "Not like that! He was just curious. Said that he could feel that I wanted to be a hero." Ruby said, kinda miffed that her dad would shoot down the idea even hypothetically.

"Well that's nice and all but Dusters get involved in some dangerous work. I want you at home and school, not out on the streets fighting monsters. I like that you have guts but.. We can talk about that later. Ready to go home?" He asked, smiling again as he ruffled Ruby's hair. Pawing his hand away she would giggle and respond that she was all ready to. Although hold on. What about Nia? She couldn't leave her here alone. "I'm sure her dad's coming to get her. Unless she wants a ride with us. I can call him and let him know."

"No need, daddy's here to save the day." Someone called, waltzing into the room. Drew a few varied looks too before everyone went back about their business.

White coat, fancy black trousers, polished dress shoes, stylish gloves, a black bowler with a red stripe band and a playing card tucked into it.. His orange curled hair was what drew most of the attention, that and his green eyes surrounded by black eyeliner. Not too many men could pull that off but somehow Roman Torchwick just.. Did. Gentleman's cane in hand he would open one arm to pull Nia into a hug as she launched herself at him. "It's okay sweetie, I'm taking you home. We can watch movies, eat ice cream, and forget all about those nasty monsters."

"Roman." Qrow noted with a neutral tone and a small smile.

"The birdman cometh! Good to see you Mr. Branwen." Naturally given their daughters were best friends the two men knew eachother. That and..

"How's work at the casino? Still breaking the bank?" Qrow asked, this time looking more amicable.

"Oh you know how it is. You're a regular after all. One day you're absconding with a tiny fortune and the next you're there to give it all back." The ginger male chuckled. "So, are we ready to leave? I'm not exactly a fan of this place.." He stated dryly. Qrow didn't share the sentiment but he agreed that it was time to go. Both pairs would head for the door, exiting the station to head to their respective vehicles. Apparently Taiyang and Yang had been told to stay home despite their worry, Qrow saying that he could go himself and pick Ruby up.

Though as he got down the steps right as he reached the bottom one he got the strangest sensation along his back. Wierd.. He paused, looking left and right before then looking up behind him. ... ..Eh, probably nothing. He got in the car, Ruby sliding in the passenger seat and buckling up as it started. With a rev of the engine they were gone down the road.

Soft clicks of chitin clattered on the rooftop before fading as the creature making them disappeared into the darkness of the adjacent taller buildings and their alleyways.

* * *

 _Awwwww yeeeeaaaah! A new chapter ALREADY? What sorcery is this? Well this,certainly ain't Sparta. Go home Leonidas, you're drunk._

 _Actually managed to make this chapter a little longer too. A/Ns aside which is probably a fifth of the word count. Originally I was gonna stop it before the police station scene but I figured hey I can fit it in there. ..Yes haha that's what she said. Sidenote I kid you not, I still have a month old Walmart receipt where my purchase came out to $69.69. I can't make this up._

 _So when's the next chapter? Well probably not by this weekend. Depends on my mood today how much I get done but I think I'mma just go play Warframe. Or Disgaea 5. One of the two._

 _Inspectre Offline._


	4. (Up)rising Storm

_Inspectre Online._

 _Guardians of the Grim(m)oire Update 4.0.0:A patch notes_

 _-New Chapter & content_

 _-Changed picture for story icon to something more fitting than (but not as awesome as) Ultraman_

 _-Previous Chapters bug fixes_

 _-Expanded stuff_

 _-Further setup for first story arc_

 _-Answered reviews and PMs_

 _-Ridiculous A/Ns DLC_

 _-Temporarily increased drop rate for chapters & +motivation % for writing_

 _-Unfortunately no available patch for scheduling issues with interference from work, hope to fix once Monday rolls around_

 _So yeah. Sitting in bed at 1:38 A.M. getting the intro A/N outta da way. 'Cause srsly what else could I be doing at that hour? ..Oh yeah that sleep thing. Eh I'll get around to it. For now though we gon' answer summa dem der 'reevews'._

 _At GrnDrgnzrd: 1. Fix'd. 2. IDK I'm weird like that sometimes I spell it both ways. Like defence/defense or disc/disk. Also I shall tell (and therefor spoil) nothing!_

 _At Felan Lupus: Always nice to have regular viewers latch on! Okay so.. Not gonna answer that first one but if it wasn't obvious he does either know or have suspicions of things. As for the other.. Hmm. I'll let that be a mystery for now._

 _At Guest:_

 _Alright now let's get down like the clown. See if I can't at least write a little on my breaks. Also is it just me or does this doc manager like to remove/change words and mess with my writing after I put a document in? Maybe it's trying to make sure I'm double checking my work._

* * *

 _*click* "You make me feel..! Invincible! Earthquake powerful!_

 _Just like a tidal wave, you make me brave! You're my titaniu-"_

And it was time to get up. Not because of the alarm clock blasting music but because of the little doggo racing around the foot of her bed yipping for her to do so. Sliding the blankets off Ruby stretched, slapping a hand on the alarm button to shut it up.

From there she went to the bathroom, brush hair and teeth, shower, etc. Out of the rose pajamas and tank top and into a pair of black shorts and a blank black t-shirt. Ruby didn't bother doing her hair up yet. Zwei would hound her once she was out of her room and coming barefoot down the stairs with a bit of a skip. The past few days had her excited considering that her dad and uncle Taiyang had planned a trip to the water park for Monday. Which would be tomorrooow! Even though she hadn't been injured or completely shaken by what happened the other day on the school bus nonetheless there had been a stern advisory to all those that had to just stay home and recuperate, so Friday she'd done so along with her cousin. Nia too, who she checked on the day after about her head and to hang out and talk about it with a few other friends.

Hey she wasn't the biggest fan of school just like Yang so why not take the free day? And since Monday was a holiday, and supposedly going to be a scorcher on the heat index..

Ruby slipped through the living room and into the kitchen, ready to fix some breakfast for herself. It took about five seconds of standing there with the refrigerator open before she noticed that the house was.. Quiet. Eh? Was nobody else up yet? "Bark!" "Huh?"

Zwei trotted into the room, holding a note that looking at the handwriting she could tell was Taiyang's. "What'd they do, leave us to guard the house? Hmm.. ..'Ruby, had to go to the store, Qrow was already out and Yang wanted to pick up-' Ah. Sooo I guess it's just us Zwei." "Bark!" Alright then.

Quickly throwing together a little breakfast she bumped the door shut with her hip, setting something down for Zwei to munch on before moving to the living room. Set her food on the little table there, plopped on the couch aaand time for cartoons! Click.

...

It was about ten minutes later after she finished eating, Zwei up on the couch by her head, when the doorbell rang. Was it- Nah it couldn't be them. Not that quickly. Maybe Nia was coming over? Still kinda early.. Might as well get up and see who it was even though she was already so comfy.. Zwei yipped at her, tilting his head. "Stay. I'll be right back." He laid back down and turned towards the TV again as Ruby hopped up and jogged to the front door.

"Who is it?" She asked, waiting expectantly once she reached it. ... ... ..No response. "Hello?" ... ... ..Nothing. Tiptoe'ing up to the viewing hole revealed that there was nobody standing there. Was this a prank? Ruby wasn't sure if she should open the door while home alone so she then went to go back to the living room. Not three steps later and the bell rang again. Whoosh! Back to the eyehole! ..Nothing. Nobody standing there. Mildly annoyed Ruby undid the chain bolt, deadbolt, doorknob lock, then opened the door slightly to glance outside. ..Nobody around? What the-

A package. There was a package sitting on the porch out in the open. No markings, no wrappings or tags. It was maybe half as big as a lunchbox and the exterior made of cardboard, folded in such a way it'd stay closed and a note taped to the top. There was a healthy amount of caution and skepticism here as Ruby eyed it from inside, her head just barely out the door. Ideas swam through her mind. Could call the police, could wait until her family got home, could have Zwei check it out with his sniffer but being the way she was curiosity would get the best of her.

"There's no post on Sundays.." The girl said, slowly walking out to crouch by it. What did the note say? She took it off, holding it up. "'Open me in private.' Huh. Wait.. What kind of package is this? Maybe this was meant for dad." Ruby scoffed. But- Eh? There was a small sketch of a rose in the bottom corner. Then this.. Her last name _was_ Rose. Couldn't be a coincidence could it?

This was weird. However if it was a cardboard box then there probably wasn't some lethal gas in there. Too small to be a bomb. She was equally curious as she was wary of the mysterious package but in the end it was taken inside to the living room after she shut and locked the door again. Okay, time to open it. Probably not the best idea but.. It was driving her crazy now! What was inside? Who sent it and why?

Zwei barked at the girl when she sat back down, standing up and sniffing at the box. "I have noo idea. Just found it on the step. All clear boy?" "Bark!" "A'ight let's see.." If there was a time for a dramatic drumroll this would be it. Ruby slightly turned her head, squinting as she slid her fingers into the interconnected cardboard flaps and then lifted. The unmarked package was..! ..A jewelry box.

A jewelry box? Zwei gave a confused 'rrr?'. Ruby blinked. "Uh.. Is this a confession from somebody? 'Cause I gotta say this- ..Whoa.."

After removing the dark red felt and gold bow-tied box from the other she popped it open to find a hairpin. Clearly expensive, and not the 'painted-colored plastic' or 'aluminum with polish' type but pure refined silver shaped into a hairpin. This was some gift.. Strangely just holding it made her breath easy, her body light as she nearly fell over. There was another folded piece of paper inside the box that Zwei called her attention to after it popped out. Still holding the hairpin Ruby would open it.

"'Put me on when you're alone. It's up to you what you do with it, if you think you're ready.' ..Okay this is just freaky. What do you think Zwei?" She asked. The corgi looked at her, tilting his head before yipping at her. Could always trust his animal instinct, always had. Especially when her mom.. That wasn't something she wanted to think about right now. Shaking her head Ruby nervously held the hairpin up to the light. Definitely a work of master craftsmanship. Perfect symmetry, not a bend or scratch or scuff. Qrow and the others weren't home and knowing that they had to head to a different store plus wherever Yang wanted to go..

It made her more nervous just thinking about doing it for some reason but her hands would hesitantly go around to the back of her head. Hold up why was she worried? It was just a hairpin right? But something felt almost.. Supernatural about it. The way holding it made her feel too. Twisting her hair and taking a rubber band off the table from a collection that Yang liked to snap at her Ruby did up a ponytail, preparing to insert the hairpin. Aaaand..!

Huh. Nothing. Well that was anticlimactic- WOOSH. Wind began to swirl around her, alarming the small dog to jump off the couch and hop as he barked. Ruby was starting to mildly freak out too as visible wind currents began to wrap her body and obscure it. Papers, the opened box, other light items in the room made a mess as they flew about. There was a ghostly voice, calm and reassuring in the back of her mind that wasn't her own which compelled her to stand up and reach out a hand despite being unable to understand it. As a result the air then began to.. Solidify? New clothes started to appear on her as the old ones vanished like they'd torn apart to microscopic shreds, the winds trailing off the ends of the replacements she could feel but not see. A fingerless black glove that extended halfway to the elbow covered that hand, prompting Ruby to reach out the other one. The process repeated itself and this time she flexed her arms, spreading it past to her shoulders. No sleeves, but.. If she stepped forward?

Black boots. The perfect kind, knee high with short heels and soles made for grip would appear along with thigh-high rose-printed stockings, a short black skirt with a red underlay, and a sleeveless closed vest with just a short cut below the collar that ended before the bellybutton though a mesh did cover the skin below. A red rose that almost glowed would imprint over her heart, silver wisps superimposing over and behind the design. That wasn't all though. A red hood had wrapped around her head, connected to a red facemask that concealed the lower half of her face and ended in two long ninja-like scarves that billowed in the wake of her transformation. The new appearance unbeknownst to her had been a subconscious decision, one she didn't regret after seeing her image reflected in the TV screen. Totally. Awesome.

"Whoa.. I look so COOL. Hey am I-? I-I-I'm floating?!" She almost yelled, just now realizing that her body had been hovering an inch or two off the floor. Whoop. Back down she went with a soft graceful tap of her heels. This lightweight feeling. This power. This- This energy she felt. It was all exhilarating. Ruby felt like she could run a marathon! And she was already in good shape to begin with too. Wait. Hold on. No.. No _freaking_ way. The new suit, the mystical winds. She was.. She was A DUSTER?!

Looking over herself and trying all sorts of poses the girl was ecstatic. Zwei was still barking, running in circles around her as she let out squeaks of excitement. Ruby couldn't believe it but she was a flippin' Duster! Likely with the element of air or sky, something like that she guessed. Curiously Ruby raised her hand again, a soft wind flowing around it. Then she clenched it causing that wind to spiral harder before calming. Too. Epic.

Her mind backtracked to the encounter with that other Duster a few days ago, wondering if he possibly sent her this.. Whatever it was. However he'd said that they just happen to find their way to oh that's right he called it a Scroll didn't he? Didn't look like a piece of paper though but maybe it was just a term.

Zwei stopped, sitting down and looking up at Ruby with a tilted head again. Ruby looked back at him with a wide grin. "Oh my gosh I can't believe it I've been chosen to become a Duster! I dunno why or how but can you see this? ..I gotta go try it out. This thing's supposed to have all sorts of cool weapons and secret moves in it right? I'll be back soon boy." Zwei barked as she snatched up the cardboard package and notes, burying them in the garbage. She kept the little box the hairpin had come in though and put it in her pocket before bolting out the back door. A little test run couldn't hurt could it? Qrow and Taiyang both shouldn't be back any time shortly.

Standing outside in her thankfully fenced backyard and looking totally not conspicuous at all the ninja-themed girl would curl her fingers and rock on her feet. She'd felt pretty light in there.. Wonder if she could fly? Fly like the wind? That voice in the back of her mind was quiet, feeding her intuition with words she couldn't make out but strangely understood again. A little jump aaand she bounced off a nearby tree, bouncing once more but softly off of the ground like a basketball. Okay she'd need some time to adjust to that. Ooor maybe she could increase and decrease the effect of this feeling of almost weightlessness like a dial?

The next few minutes were spent doing such, eventually finding a degree she was comfortable and then able to experiment with. She could reliably jump from branch to branch and to the roof then back again. This was too cool to the girl and she was only tapping into the basic movements so far!

"Okay.. Enough jumping. Let's try running, like the old saying goes. Run like wind." Ruby muttered, getting into a three point stance. She'd learned the first time not to try and exert too much energy when trying to do something. Thus she just imagined a fast jog in her mind, air flowing around her feet and ankles. Theeen!

Smack.

Ruby ended up bouncing off the wooden fence to skid on her back to a stop several feet away when she launched herself too quickly by accident. Okay.. Note to self. Running is much easier than flying. That'd have to be worked on too.

It wouldn't take long. As quick as her previous self-taught lession Ruby was running laps inside the yard throwing up leaves and such at such a speed that Usain Bolt would be impressed. Surprising herself she was able to keep up and react with her own movements in conjuction with the world around her. To her it seemed like she was moving normally and the world was slow though which made it easier.

Before she knew it a half hour had passed. Plenty of time strangely enoughto get a good grip on the beginner parts of her abilities. She could run faster, jump higher and float/glide.. Some basic punches and kicks revealed a skill in martial arts that she was certain wasn't there before, and that her air control ability aided that too. From forceful blasts of wind with direct punches and kicks to sweeping gales with arcing kicks and sharp currents with fast chops. Ruby definitely held back with those after blowing a hole in the fence once already. Thankfully it happened on the back side facing towards the woods..

"This.. This is amazing. I just- This isn't a dream right?" She pinched herself. Nope not a dream. This was real. She was an honest to goodness Duster. She was really one of them now. And something was wrong. Ruby suddenly felt uneasy, hearing a robotic chirping noise from somewhere. The back of her- The hairpin? It was vibrating softly too. It put her on edge, like she was in danger. There weren't any monsters around were there? ..Maybe there was. It was a feeling comparable to when she'd been in the bus and that statue thing had attacked.

Looking around, Ruby peered towards the hole in the fence and then began to walk towards it. Zwei was scratching at the back door and barking but she disregarded him. Curiosity beckoned though much more than just a hint of caution possessed her this time. Right as she reached that hole there was a sound of clattering and fast movement, leaves flying and what looked like some kind of huge spider fleeing from the fenceline further into the woods. That was no ordinary spider either. Not with that hard spiked carapace of dull pale navy blue and glowing green eyes. Or the fact it was as large as a bear cub cheesus crust.. Alien and bizarre.. Had to be a monster, had to be. Thus abandoning all the previous carefulness and self-preservation she originally had Ruby stepped back, taking little time to think before dashing and leaping the fence. She glided through the air, arms out beside her as her feet touched down on a tree branch.

Much like a ninja, something she was enjoying even while chasing her first monster, her reflexes kept up as did her quick thinking jumping from branch to branch with spot on accuracy. This spider alien thing was _fast_..

It was already gone out of sight but somehow she could just feel which direction it had gone, jumping and gliding along until she'd reached near the edge of the woods where the city of Valiant lay outside the Patchworks. Which was pretty far to go without a bicycle or a car..

Landing on one of two stone posts Ruby crouched, 'owling' and scanning for where that big bug had gone. ..There! Skittering into an alleyway! There were a few cars slowly picking up speed again in the road having hit their brakes when they saw it zip across the intersection. A few pedestrians were quickly walking away, others calling the police and one or two turning to notice the girl clad in red and black. The attention made her shy, adjusting her hood and facemask to make certain her face was still adequately covered before leaping off and gliding to the dark corners of the buildings across from her. She hadn't thought yet about how performing in public might be. Talk about nervous..

Once on the other side Ruby flexed her fingers, feeling the wind pick up speed around them as she stealthily but briskly walked further in. It was close, her hairpin was buzzing in her hair chirping like a bird. Then.. There they were. Those glowing green eyes. And wow was this thing ugly. It had plenty of 'em and then some, situated freakishly between two sets of eery jaws. Well, the lower ones were regular chelicerae but the ones above its eyes were extended straight mandibles with extra poisonous fangs. Urgh..

The monster noticed her presence somehow, turning and letting out a shrill hiss. It raised up in a position to strike, forelegs poisoned and venomous fangs dripping an acidic substance that sizzled on contact with the concrete. Not a good idea to touch that she guessed. Suddenly getting a dangerous vibe she raised both hands, making signs with the fingers. Ring and pinkie down, thumb across the tips with middle and index extended, each pair crossing eachother in front of her chest. The spider leaped and she stepped forward, swinging her hands out and to the sides. That cross style slashing motion sent two intersected 'wind blades' flying to bisect the large spider cleanly into four pieces, plopping across the ground and searing a good part of the floor between them with acid. ..Well that had been easy. Then again it wasn't as big as most monsters were either. Either way..

"..Alright! I slayed my first monster!" Ruby exclaimed, jumping for joy with a fist in the air. She really did it! She was a full-fledged Duster now! So she believed but in time she'd surely be able to do a lot more than what she was currently capable of right? "Wasn't that tough but I guess that's a good thing. I should probably jet on home before the cops show up and dad gets back." Ruby said, taking a few hopping steps backward before turning to run out of the alle- *crash*

The side of the building to her right exploded, chunks and rebar flying into the opposite wall. Electric wiring crackled, dust spread everywhere. Ruby had to shield her eyes, putting out a palm to try and blow the stuff back so it wouldn't get all in her face and mouth. Someone was in a hurry.. "Hey watch it! I already killed the monster, and don't you know what a door.. Is..?" Cue her hairpin ringing like a fire alarm as bright green lights kicked on in front of her. Or no wait a minute those weren't lights those were more- Oh. ..Oh dear.

* * *

 _Y'know come to think of it that song Superhero (it was one of the nightcore tracks I found on YT) might've fit the opening better but I was too lazy to change it. And yes I did make it Sunday just so I could do a Harry Potter reference. Yer a Duster Ruby!_

 _So let's see.. Ruby finally got her powers, Stella got her groove back, I got another,chapter up and y'all got another to read.. Also how about that Hurricane Maria? Jesus nature we get it you're ANGRY._

 _*hums along to the Mercenaries 2 theme* I got like almost 600 songs on my playlist now. Just discovered that they did release a new Fairy Tail soundtrack back in 2016 so I either overlooked it or something. Speaking of did y'all see that new pic Hiro drew? With Lucy chaining up Natsu? Daaaang son. Wonder if we'll get the soundtrack for Dragon Cry too.._

 _Anyway yeah. Told you guys I'd try to have a chapter out Monday. With the hours I have this week, though we do have work calls, I should be able to get a few more if my motivation holds up. Well I'm off to start the next chapter as I upload this one. 187 whole views! Yet a surprising number of favorites, follows, and reviews out of that. I'm oddly impressed._

 _Also I'm getting back into Fire Emblem Heroes and Shadowverse. So that's a thing._

 _Inspectre Offline._


	5. Firestorm

_Inspectre Online_

 _..._

 _..._

 _You thought this was a new chapter but it was me, Dio! ZA WARUDO._

 _Alright seriously now. Next chapter coming up as I wait for Warframe to update and idly play some Battlegems. First we answer re- Actually no first a PSA. Review moar plz. ..That's basically the short version. Long version being, favorites are great. Follows are awesome! Means people are interested enough to want to stay updated. Reviews though are the good stuff. Reviews with constructive criticism, likes and dislikes, questions, compliments, etc. Flames and roodness though yeah I'll just burn that stuff. This story only has a handful of views so far but part of what keeps me going is knowing that I have at least a few readers who are sticking with me for the ride. People like to know their work is enjoyed, not just looked at. I'm not saying review/favorite/follow and etc, but reviews are appreciated hinty hinty winterminty._

 _Now on to reviews._

 _At Felan Lupus: Pfft, naaah. And uh, n-no._

 _Yeah part of the Scrolls' function is to be able to imprint basic knowledge and abilities of themselves into their wielders. It's not like some kind of mental training program that instantly or outright teaches them everything but rather some subconscious hints on what they'd need to be Dusters. If you weren't a fighter before, well you're not exactly gonna instantly turn into a black belt without practice but it'll give you a nudge. Also comes with something like Spider-Sense Lite._

 _Now.. Boost fire! Full power! Let's start a combat!_

 _..That's two completely different references to an old anime and game respectively that I'm certain nobody will get but if someone manages one or both I will be amazed_.

* * *

Ruby slowly backed away as she realized what she was looking at was a much bigger, nastier, meaner version of the creature she just killed. It clearly wasn't happy about that either. Whereas the last one was just pretty big for a spider this one was frickin' hueg. Bigger than a battle tank big.

It was at that moment she also realized that she was way in over her head. How did she summon a weapon or use special abilities? What else could the Scroll actually do? Making powerful gusts and performing far-reaching high speed maneuvers while helpful were all she could do right now. Ruby doubted a little wind blade would work on this thing with its thicker carapace. But maybe, just maybe she could do something. Her hand clenched, a straight punch thrown to send an air blast its way.

Which from outside appearances had about the same effect as a dog sticking its head out the window of a moving vehicle. Or in other words, it did jack all.

With a screeching hiss it stabbed at the girl with its closest foreleg, puncturing the concrete like a knife through styrofoam. Ruby had been quick to hop backwards, sliding with waving arms to keep her balance before her back slapped against the brick wall behind her. Okay time to leave. No sense in staying here to die when the police would have better chances with their guns and stuff.

Except there was nowhere to run. No manholes to conveniently jump down into, no other alleyway to dart into. Not even a door or window to crash through. Certainly she wasn't getting PAST the thing so her only direction to go wa- Oh DUH she could practically fly. Except it was more like jumping and gliding instead of actual flight but still.

Ruby crouched down, feeling the wind swirl around her legs just as the giant spider monster thrust its abdomen forward after rising up on its legs. Oh come on there was no way it could- Damn it really could.

She made it about ten feet off the ground before a thick glob of white sticky webbing spurted out from its spinnerets. The creature had actually been smart enough to aim upwards and account for her attempt to jump. It lead her, catching most of her upper body and everything below to stick Ruby against the wall behind her. She was trapped.

"What the-? No freaking way. This isn't happening. This isn't happening no way no way oh god." The newly appointed Duster trainee was panicking. Why had she been so foolhardy, chasing monsters right after getting a Scroll? Now she was about to become lunch for a behemoth alien spider whose palps were fidgeting like eager fingers ready to tear into prey. Young, sweet, succulent prey. "No no no go away! Get away from me! S-Someone help!" A Duster calling for help. How embarrassing.. But she'd rather lose a bit of pride than die. Too bad there was nobody around. Nobody probably knew it was even here. Well aside from anybody driving by who had happened to notice. Or a random pedestrian passing through. She hadn't been paying attention. Surely the cops were closing in right? But there were no sirens to be heard yet.

That meant it was very likely she'd be digesting in its stomach after getting wrapped like a sausage burrito before help came. Her eyes welled up with tears of horror, becoming too frightened to speak now as the freak horror was only a few yards away and stretching its legs to get up to her height by using the opposing walls to climb. Well.. This was it then wasn't it? This really, really sucked and blowed. Ruby- "FALCON PUNCH." *WHAM*

Something flaming and loud dropped like a meteor, smashing dead center onto the spider's top side and driving it down into the floor creating a concrete crater. Then came repeated thunks as punches were thrown into its armored carapace with fire and fury equal until it ceased to move. That'd show the freak.

Ruby blinked, clearing her eyes as she watched her savior rise and coolly toss her hair back. That golden blonde mane, those shades, the abundance of studs and leather not to mention those armored yellow gauntlets.. ..Something felt familiar about her but what? Was it the uh.. Probably her- Now she felt a little dizzy. What was she thinking about again? Ruby shook her head. It probably wasn't important.

What was important was that she was currently watching the heroic Duster Ember _herself_ casually walk off the defeated whatever-it-was and look up at her with a smirk. "Hey there new kid. Haven't seen you before. Diggin' the ninja style but you must not be very good if it caught you." Ruby's face turned almost as red as her hood, frowning behind it.

"I-I slipped up, that's all!" She retorted.

"Uh huh. Well if you're done hanging around-" Groan. "-I can help you down."

"..Yeah I could use some help." Thus Ember jumped up, reaching back after picking up a piece of loose rebar to stab it in the wall close by Ruby so she could hold onto it with one hand and use the other to get a fistful of that webbing. "Jeez this crap is strong. I might have to heat things up a bit."

"I can use wind, but I don't know if I can do much unless you get one of my arms free."

"Wind huh? Lemme guess, your name's something like Storm or Skye?" Ember asked, giving her an inquisitive look.

"My name? No, it's-" Whoa, record scratch. She almost told her her real name. If she was going to be a Duster like the rest she couldn't very well go spouting it off. Had to come up with a new one quick. Something to do with wind, something cool. Something.. "I-It's Gale! Gale."

"Gale huh? I like it. Strong but kinda cute." Ember said before gritting her teeth and pulling on the handful of webs she had, her gauntlet glowing red hot causing the stuff to start melting away. Finally she got a patch of it off and proceeded to reach for another one. "Hey how close am I to your arm? I don't wanna burn ya. People tell me I'm kinda hot y'know. And not just to the touch." Wow, what a flirt.

"Not too close. Another wad like that and I can probably get my arm out and cut the rest." Ruby/Gale answered.

"Alright bright eyes. Lemme know if it starts to hurt." Ember cautioned, digging her fingers back into the webbing. Another chunk came out like syrupy white goo, the blonde sticking her tongue out as she shook it off. Ech. Gale managed to break free her hand and then the rest of her arm through the thinning web on that side and with wiggling finger motions managed to stir up a spinning current that began to cut into the front end like a sawblade.

"Can't believe I got caught.. I should have been more careful."

"Hey relax, I was only teasing you kid. Even pros can slip up sometimes or get caught with their figurative pants down. You uh, might wanna hurry up though." She said, suddenly sounding worried.

"Huh? Why? You pounded that thing's lights out."

"Yeah but I think the power's coming back on." What- Suddenly her hairpin started chirping again and she felt unease, growing into dread as the spider's legs started twitching and its eyes blinked open. "Son of a- I knew I shoulda toasted it. Banana slamma!" Ember shouted, dropping back to drive an elbow down onto it. The spider monster rose up, the Duster latching onto a carapace spike after her attack amounted to nothing but an irritation. "Ember!"

Gale had no time to waste. She began to roughly shake herself, pushing her knees out as hard as possible while Ember played monster rodeo. The webbing split, her legs now free and very shortly after the rest of her. Had to do something. Her new ally wasn't able to while the monster swung about and tried to throw her off. With swiping motions Gale sent powerful waves of air at its legs and succeeded in tripping it long enough for Ember to get some balance, a foothold, then punch hard enough to launch off and land by her. "Okay, we can take this thing. Two Dusters on one monster? Piece of cake. Its just got eight legs, webs, and looks like acid but I'm not worried about us getting trapped again since I can burn the webs off and you have an air element. Stay away from the fangs and watch out for its legs. So what do you have? I might have a plan."

"Uh.. What do I have?" Gale asked, puzzled.

"Yeah. What're your melee and ranged weapons? What kind of special abilities can you use with wind?" Ember clarified, holding her fists up in a boxing stance as the oversized spider got back up and softly hissed at them, tilting left and right.

"..."

"Hellooo? Earth to Gale! Need to know what you're carrying!"

"..I don't know." The girl suddenly admitted.

"You don't- What? Have you just been using your element and hand to hand skills? This isn't the time for that, its armor is kinda tougher than it looks. At least as hard as iron."

"..." Silence.

"Do you even know what your weapons are? Have you summoned them yet?" Ember glanced aside at her. This kid couldn't be serious.

"I kinda.. Just got my Scroll earlier today."

"Are you f-"

"I'm sorry okay!? I didn't think I'd be basically fighting a boss monster on my first day! I chased a smaller one of those things here and then this one showed up and then you showed up and-" Ember shoved Gale sideways as a leg came slicing down like a deadly scythe, razor tip shredding along the concrete as it was dragged back. This monster would be employee of the month if its job was tilling fields..

"Well worry about that later! You're just gonna have to learn fast! Think, what kind of weapon do you like the most? If you got any experience with one. Or what would you use? Doesn't matter if it's a gun or a sword right now but you gotta have something." Ember exclaimed, prompting Gale to ponder as the spider advanced towards them. What _did_ she see herself using? A sword would be cool actually but it was so.. Typical. Maybe nunchuks? Tonfa? She didn't consider an axe. Too heavy. But..

Gale became lost in thought when she should have been paying attention, Ember shouting at her to do so as another leg strike descended on them both. The blonde caught hers in the grip of her gauntlets, grit teeth showing as she tried to force it back. At least it wasn't sharp enough to cut her hardened metal gauntlets.

As for Gale, finally picturing something in her mind her arms moved back. Reacting extremely swiftly once hearing Ember's shout visible winds twisted between her palms, spiraling in opposite directions much the same way her new outfit had appeared. This happened so fast it blew away nearby rubble and such, a glimmer of steel catching all of the spider's eyes before a near instant shriek akin to nails on a chalkboard sounded out.

In Gale's hands was a long black metal shaft, on the bottom end a sharp impact spike and the top an intimidatingly large red and black head acting like a holder for the even scarier and inconceivably sharp blade of a scythe. The top and part of the upper half was guarded, leaving the tip and bottom edge exposed with a vicious hook on the side opposite the blade.

That edge met the spider's leg, both rebounding and a very shallow gouge left in the latter. On Ember's side, she relented to the leg she had been clutching while simultaneously sidestepping causing it to embed into the floor. Her gauntlet sizzled and bursts into flames before she let loose with a powerful punch that hit with a resulting small explosion. Good thing her protective 'bubble' of shielding was highly resistant to blast damage and that the spider's carapace wasn't. The biological armor was shattered, exposing what looked like dark red skin underneath and even darker fluids that likely were blood. A second punch should do some serious damage and she whiffed it, the limb yanking back as Ember hit air. Crap!

Double crap actually. In seconds it was visibly starting to regrow. The carapace regenerated from the surrounding armor and hardened swiftly causing her to curse. But at least they managed to damage it.

"Aw that's bullcrap. Hey did you- Whoa. What the heck is that thing?"

"It's not a thing it's my weapon! Well, one I guess. I think I'll call it Vera." Gale said, spinning it in a blur before catching and stopping it over her shoulder. "Or.. Nah. I'll think of something better later. So what's the plan Ember?"

"The plan? Don't get hit, hit it until it dies." She responded and stepped back to get into a boxing stance again.

"Okay. Does it get any more detailed than that?"

"Well, I can break the armor but it'll just back off before I can do anything else. Your oversized grass cleaver can't cut through it but-"

"-if I could jump in and deal some damage before its armor regrows.."

"Bingo, smart thinkin'. Follow my lead and we'll make quick work of this thing. If you can distract it I'll try and open up a spot where we can do some serious damage."

Gale held her scythe out, thinking hard for a moment and furrowing her brow in concentration. Actually what if.. She could manipulate the air with her arms and legs. Her uncle Taiyang had mentioned before that in martial arts using a weapon meant treating it like an extension of one's body. This was precisely the kind of situation that idea could apply to so she would close her eyes and focus. The air stirred around the blade of her scythe, flowing along the curvature of that lethally sharp edge as she dashed forward gave it a strong upward swing. True to thought the winds acted like an extension of the scythe, delivering some excruciating pain to the spider monster as they cut into many of its eyes. That brought about some pained screeching as it thrashed legs towards her, missing widely as the Duster leapt backwards and Ember took her place with a smirk.

"Time to hit it with a dual strike!"

"Earth and sky style!" Gale shouted, jumping skyward with an air-boosted crouch-and-leap. The spider was entirely focused on her and didn't notice the blonde racing towards it until a skull-crushing fist hit like a sledgehammer on its face. The spider's serrated palps swiped at her, catching nothing as Ember leaned back having expected that kind of counter attack from the get go. Then she came up with a short hop, an overhand haymaker flashing with fire and slamming it in the top of its head crushing the armor there and caving it. Of course the palps would lash out again and knock her away but she'd succeeded in her attempt to both weaken and distract it. Even as Ember bounced along the ground Gale was spinning like a buzzsaw down towards the monster.

Her strike needless to say would be a fatal finisher, the girl landing her blade deeply into the center of its head for an instant kill. The spider creature let out a gurgling hiss before its legs gave out and its body crashed to the ground with a heavy thud. The scythe was wrenched free, bloody blade swung to get the excess liquid off of it before the bottom was planted like a flag. Gale gazed at the now finally dead monster with a victorious grin, jumping slightly as some of its legs twitched post-mortem. Well.. That was that then. Guess she didn't need the scythe any more but what was she supposed to do? Just carry it around? Would be simpler if she could just put it away in a magic pock- Oh. It just.. Simply disappeared in a flash of silver light. Handy.

"Nice work newbie." Gale eep'd as a now unarmored hand gave her a congratulatory swat on the rear, her own protectively covering it as she whirled on Ember with a second blush today.

"D-Don't make fun of me! One day I'll be as good as you!" She responded with silver eyes narrowed.

"I'm being serious. That's a promise right? Can't have a fumbling rookie as my partner after all." Ember said with a smile, adjusting her shades. Eh? Partner?

"You.. Mean it? Me? Y-Your partner?" Partners with Ember? Really? Even though she'd totally embarrassed herself out there?

"Yeah why the heck not? You've got it everywhere I don't. I bring it hard, you bring it fast. I smash, you slice and dice. I hit the ball and you run the bases. I rage like an inferno, you storm like a.. A uh, a storm. ..Okay that was a lame simile but you see what I'm getting at."

Gale was ecstatic but at the same time incredibly nervous. Working with Ember.. She'd first heard stories a while back about the burning blonde brawler so she at least had experience dating from.. She looked maybe around 18? No older than 20. Basically way more experience than her own but that was a given. The younger Duster grimaced, rubbing the back of her head when a hand suddenly pat her shoulder.

"Relax. It's no biggee if you're just starting out. I mean nobody's perfect at something right off the bat. Nobody can pull off their best on the first try either. There's always room to improve too. I'm certain you can get as good as me but that'll be after you get more experience. At least when you've got a partner it's easier and safer along the way." All valid points.. Ember was right. So she would get to work with her at fighting monsters and criminals then huh? With Ember.. This was as exciting as it was nerve-wracking.

"O-Okay. But how will I know where to find you? It's one thing if we meet up when a monster shows up but outside of that?"

"We can try to schedule something. I'll teach you what I've picked up and help you train when my real life lets me have time off. Speaking of which I kinda need to get back to what I was doing so uh.. Catch ya later Gale!" Ember exclaimed, turning to jog out the alley past the dead monster. Unfortunately that'd be just about when about four armored police cruisers pulled up at the end of the hall, fully equipped suppression officers stepping out of them after parking. Weapons were aimed, briefly at the monster corpse then the Dusters then the monster again. "Uh.. Change of plans. How about we maybe cheese it!"

Gale certainly didn't think twice of doing so, a single bound taking her to the rooftops as Ember leapt and grabbed onto the fire escape staircase and ran up to the top. The officers below had shouted for them to stop but their commander gave an order to disregard the two females and focus on what was more important.

Ember made it to the roof just in time to see her cohort run and leap off the edge, gliding away into the treeline across the street before vanishing. Maybe she was a Patchworks girl just like her and lived nearby. Or maybe she just found it to be the best escape route. Not that they really had anything to fear from the cops but Ember didn't feel like dealing with them and apparently neither did Gale.

"..She's a cute one. Dunno why she feels familiar though.. If these Scrolls didn't cloud peoples' minds from figuring out our identities I could probably guess who she is." Yang said after raising her shades, revealing those deep lilac eyes. Oh how she'd sweatdropped the first few times she thought certain people were about to uncover her true identity before just too conveniently either digressing and moving on or outright forgetting what they had been talking about. Truth be told Yang was grateful for it. Lowering her shades back over her eyes Ember would then walk back in the opposite direction, her other gauntlet vanishing in a gold flash before she began to run and jump to the next rooftop and so on and so on. Had to get back before dad started to worry about her.

* * *

 _Aw yeh another chapter whaaat. I stayed up until like 2:30 AM writing this. ..I-It's not like I did it to make up for all the lost time or anything, b-baka!_

 _If you didn't know it, F-Zero has a pretty cool anime. That's one of the two references in my top A/N. The other being a line from Zoids: Legacy. That game's Engrish sometimes made the City Wok guy sound eloquent._

 _So one thing to note, Batman/Bruce Wayne? He doesn't just have an excuse he has justification. Superman/Clark Kent? Uh.. He changes clothes and takes off his glasses and gets a little curl thing in his hair. That's it. Also Spider-man at least has a costume but nobody ever recognizes him by his voice? Get outta here. Dusters are innately and mystically protected from having their identities guessed. Let's just say a wizard did it. ..But really it's because of the Scrolls. See they generate a long-range neural scrambler field and- *insert Hollywood magic science that makes no sense at all*_

 _Another thing to note, no there won't be Enabler in this fic. Their interactions were/are just for giggles._

 _Now I'mma go back to farming orbs in Fire Emblem Heroes. I really want the Black Knight.. Even with all the new games like Fates and Awakening and Echoes (and Warriors looks good), the Tellius series is still my favorite. As well as the original (for us Americans) series,which started on the GBA with Lyn, Roy, etc. The Sacred Stones in particular for me. Black Knight also still has one of THE coolest themes across the franchise for me. Like you hear Unstoppable Destiny and you know some badass is coming to wipe the field and curbstomp somebody._

 _Now I doubt I'll be able to get too many more chapters out this week- *said that the other day and ended up getting one out the next day lol* -but I'll try._

 _Inspectre Offline._


	6. Breeze

_Inspectre Online._

 _Long, long ago, in a galaxy far away.. ..There could be aliens but they've just decided they don't wanna visit._

 _Monster Hunter sure is popular these days. I mean for good reason but now there's even one in Marvel vs Capcom? Maybe Monster Hunter or a Prowler for Smash? Speaking of Nintendo, got a Crimean team finally built in Fire Emblem Heroes but rrrgh I want the Black Knight! I'll have him replace Anna on my team. Right now I got Anna, Ike (why did they give him Urvan instead of Ragnell, or are,both versions obtainable?), Nephenee (oh my Ashera she murders everything), and Elincia (like Nephenee but squishy and can fly). Anna can support Neph and Ike with much needed Res, and I got support with her for extra safety though she won't need it as much once she goes from 4* to 5*. Also we need some Laguz but they're not in Heroes (YET) as far as I know. Lethe and Lyre plz though I'd be content with having like Ranulf or Volug._

 _Alright so.._

 _At GrnDrgnzrd: Hmmmm who knows? I'll never tell!_

 _I would imagine so. Like how certain functions of a phone work with it turned off. The clock for one. And thanks! Yeah, it'll be sticking. I already have the names for most of the future Dusters written._

 _P.S. Nah it's all good. Just wish more people would review is all._

 _Onto the story! I uh.. Hmm. Yeah this is a story where I've already decided most of it but there's some parts I haven't thought about yet so we'll see how things play out._

* * *

Zwei perked his head as he heard something thump outside the back door, hopping up to go to it when a familiar voice came from the other side. Ruby! She'd been gone for a good while chasing that thing.

"I'm back Zwei! Did ya miss me? Sorry, got a little in over my head out there but ooh I got to meet Ember! She was so cool too! There were explosions and she punched stuff and I kinda helped a little." Ruby exclaimed excitedly like some sort of ecstatic fangirl. Briefly, her eyes rested on her clothes unsure of how to change back to normal. Unlike with using her weapon they didn't just vanish with a thought. Hrrm.. Had to figure this out before dad got home.

"Maybe there's a code to it or some kind of password I have to say? Uhh.. Duster powers off!" She punched the air in front of her. Then felt a little silly when nothing happened. Bah. Although hold on. Her transformation started when she slid the hairpin into her hair so maybe if she removed it..

Her assumption turned out to be correct. Ruby removed the pin and immediately there was a swirl of silver winds around her body, the ninja-like outfit reducing to nothing as her old clothes replaced them and then the air died down. Convenient, and now the silver hairpin had a little rose on the end of it too. These Scrolls were pretty customizable huh?

Ruby put it inside the box which thankfully hadn't disappeared and just shifted into her new pocket, plopping over on the couch again when a sensation of lightheadedness hit her. Whew.. That took more energy than she thought! Well it was her first time so maybe after she got used to it it wouldn't be as draining. ..Maybe she'd just take a little nap before everyone got home..

...

...

...

Ruby jerked awake as she felt a hand on her shoulder, eyes flickering open to see her cousin who was standing there in white shorts and a white shirt with blue sleeves, 'Mega Milk' etched in bold black letters on the front. "Hey sleepyhead you know you have a bed right? Or did you just exercise the whole time we were gone? Need me to carry you up there?"

"I-I'm fine! I just felt tired all of a sudden. Where'd you guys go?" Ruby asked, rubbing her eyes and sitting up as Yang started flipping through channels with the remote.

"I went clothes shopping while dad was picking up stuff for dinner. I think Qrow's out doing other stuff. He hasn't come back yet."

"What?"

"Already called him, he said he'd be back soon. Don't freak out." Yang answered as she dropped on the couch. She heard the slip of unease into Ruby's voice. Monster attacks had gotten a bit more prevalent these days so the girl had probably gotten startled when she said he hadn't come back yet. Maybe not the best choice of words..

"Oh. Okay.."

"... Hey you wanna play some Punch-Out! or something? Game system's up in my room." The blonde offered. Ruby looked at her and then shook her head.

"Nah. How about later? I've just got some uh school stuff on my mind right now. I'll be in my room." Ruby said before getting up and heading for the stairs. Zwei would follow leaving Yang on the couch to stare with half interest at the TV.

Taiyang however would come in a few moments later, standing by his recliner with a cup of ice water and then by the couch as he set it on the table. "You alright honey?"

"Yeah dad. Just chillin'. ..I think I kinda got Ruby worried when I said uncle Qrow hasn't come back yet."

"You really could've said that better." He chuckled. She gave him a cross look.

"I know, gawd."

"All about being tactful. So.. ..You get that taken care of?" The man asked, glancing aside.

"Huh?"

"Serious talk time. Sit up." Taiyang said, this time sounding quieter and more concerned with a not so amused expression on his face. Yang knew those signs and did so, hands on her thighs.

"You mean..?"

"Yeah. How'd it go?" His voice was just over a whisper as he turned his head.

"Come on, you know I can take care of myself out there. I'm not inexperienced any more." Yang responded, reaching for the ice water and taking a few sips.

"I know, Yang. I just.. Can't help but worry. The other day when Ruby was on the bus-"

"Don't remind me dad.. It was just a few scratches, I shouldn't have stayed home-"

"It's over and done with. She got out okay, that's all that matters."

"Yeah but aunt-"

"Summer made the choice. ..Just like you did." Taiyang interrupted, placing a hand over his duaghter's with a firm gaze. One she met in silence with a bit lip.

"I know. She.. She isn't around any more though. That's why I can't afford to mess up. I gotta be there for Ruby where she can't be, so don't worry about me. I'm not gonna fail."

Taiyang smiled hearing her speak so confidently. Taking his hand away he would place his hands behind his head and lean back, glancing at the tv then back to her. "Well?"

"Well what? Oh. Not bad. Got in and out. It was a piece of cake." Yang smirked, setting the cup down and throwing a few straight punches. "Dynamic entry? More like dynamite entry!"

"Well you're a fire type Duster so I'd assume explosions were involved." Taiyang laughed, addressing the elephant trying to hide in the corner. He was fully aware of his daughter's vigilante heroics. He had been since day 1 when she found that Scroll. Of course the man had been quite opposed to her involving herself in such dangerous matters but over time her persistent insistence had finally made him relent. She was technically an adult and it was her choice to make.

"Yeah but get this I even met a new Duster!"

"Whoa, really? One you've never seen before?" Taiyang asked, raising a brow.

"Yep! She's cute too. Her name's Gale. Air type obviously, looks like little red riding hood became a ninja. Wields a scythe.. But get this, she's a total newbie! Literally just started today! Didn't know how to summon a weapon or anything!" Yang laughed, shaking her head.

"Both of you made it out alright though right?"

"Yeah, she's not bad actually so I offered to take her under my wing. Teach her the ropes and stuff. We took down this giant spider alien thing like it was nothin'."

"Giant.. Spider alien? Guess we'll be seeing that on the news too. ..You better not have destroyed another building Yang Xiao Long." Taiyang said sternly. Yang groaned.

"Yes I showed some restraint this time. It's really hard but I managed not to blow anything else up. There was already a big hole in the wall when I got there though and it kinda melted a few holes in the floor."

"Long as you're trying. This isn't a game you know, people have to clean up and pay for the messes you make doing this sort of work." He stated with a finger pointed at her. Which lowered a little bit as he scoffed. "And did you seriously have to buy that?"

"What? Shorts are comfortable and easy to wear."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Oh this? What, it's funny." Yang pouted, tugging at her shirt collar.

"It's not funny it's lascivious."

"Well I paid for it so nyeh." She said with her tongue stuck out.

"I think it's cute. Looks like something Raven would wear." Someone called as they walked into the room. Someone wearing summer shades, a completely unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt with a sunset beach scene and palm tree print and khaki shorts, and flip flops on their feet. His jawline and chin showed a pretty impressive five o'clock shadow, dark gray hair feathered back and spiky at the ends. Dark crimson eyes showed behind the shades as they were pushed up and he flashed a smile while walking up to lean over the back of the couch.

"Qrow that is your _niece_."

"Yeah and my niece is a grown woman who can make her own decisions. ..I heard you guys from the door by the way. Ruby upstairs?" Qrow asked with a bit of annoyance. Taiyang nodded, giving him some relief.

"Fineb guess you're right. ..What are you wearing?" He then asked. The man wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or not.

"Something I picked up for tomorrow. Gonna be a hot one ya know. ..You guys remembered right? We made plans." Their faces pretty much told him they didn't.

"Crap, we forgot to pick up things for the trip tomorrow. I knew we were forgetting something! I got worried about Yang and it slipped my mind. *sigh* Guess I'll go out and take care of that." Thus Taiyang got up and took a set of keys out of his pocket, shuffling towards the front door. "By the way Qrow from now on.. I'd prefer it if one of us stays home when Ruby's here."

"Yeah I agree. That one was pretty close to the Patchworks wasn't it?"

"Right outside the woods next to our quiet little cul-de-sac. They're starting to be more aggressive and frequent." Yang added a bit seriously. Both men looked at eachother with concern. Best then to have one of them home at all times..

"Alright. Keep your phone with you Tai. Be back soon."

"Yes dearest." Taiyang said in a higher pitch than normal, eliciting an eyeroll from Qrow and snickering from Yang. He exited the house leaving those two by themselves.

Looking around the room and noting without too much consideration how slightly out of place everything seemed Qrow would head for the stairway, looking over his shoulder when Yang mentioned loudly she didn't have a swimsuit and bolted for the door to follow her father before he drove off.

"What's this world coming to huh? ..Wish you were here sis." The man mumbled to himself as he ascended the stairs.

...

Ruby was sitting at the edge of her bed, admiring the silver hairpin until she heard a knock at her door. Quickly closing the box shut and reaching back to stuff it under a pillow she returned to her spot and snatched up a nearby book, attempting to look natural. "Who is it?"

"Santa Claus, I decided to have Christmas early." ..Yep that was her dad. As he opened the door she raced up to hug him, Qrow returning the embrace. "Happy to see me?"

"Yeah. Just glad you're home." Ruby said.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to disappear on you Ruby. There was just something I had to go take care of real quick this morning and I didn't have time to leave a message."

"What, did the club open early today?" Ruby asked jokingly.

"Ha ha, very funny."

"Actually what's funny is your clothes. You look silly. Why not get a straw hat while you're at it?" She stepped back looking him up and down.

"'Cause they were sold out. Besides, I can make anything look good." Qrow held his arms out at his sides with a smug smirk. Ruby couldn't help but giggle.

"Okay, sure."

"Alright maybe darker colors are more me but my usual outfits won't cut it for tomorrow. Speaking of, Yang and Taiyang went to go do some last minute shopping so it's just you and me right now kiddo. Wanna go watch a movie or something?"

"Eh, I've been in front of the TV too much lately. I think I'm gaining weight." Ruby huffed, looking down at her stomach.

"I doubt it but alright, how about we go take Zwei for a walk around the park? Get some exercise and fresh air? You were cooped up in here all day Saturday."

Ruby pondered that for a moment. Yeah.. She could go for that. "I'll go get some shoes on and get his leash."

"Hear that boy? Limber up!"

"Bark!"

Smiling, Qrow followed Ruby out the door as they went back downstairs. There were a few other things he wanted to talk about too but they could wait for just a few minutes. He'd take the time to send Taiyang a text before grabbing a spare set of keys for the house and a few bottles of cold water from the fridge to put in a bag. Knowing how long those two liked to walk they could be out there for a few hour or two at the least..

* * *

 _Aw yeah another chapter. Hoping to get another one out before the weekend is over._

 _So yeah, stuff happened! Qrow and Tai know Yang's a Duster, Summer is apparently not around any more, and everything's fine, Raven's mentioned. Will be fun seeing how secret Ruby can keep her alter ego._

 _Next chapter will be a doozy! It'll be longer, there'll be another battle, and there will be swimsuits! Yes it's the swimsuit episode early. As par for the course there has to be a swimsuit/beach and hot spring episode in every series! I kid but hey, long as it's not crudely mashed in or thrown in at the wrong times, I enjoy fanservice. Oh right also there'll be a new Duster. Get hype._

 _Also before I go.. My condolences and sympathies to the victims of both the Mexico earthquake and Hurricane Maria. I got co-workers who are from and/or have family in both places so wish you guys the best. Hopefully things get better soon as possible._

 _P.S. If you get a certain reference in this chappie.. Naughty naughty._

 _Inspectre Offline._


	7. Cold Front

_Inspectre Online._

 _Awright time to start the new chapter. Motivation dipped a bit but I did some roleplaying on RoB with a test run of the new Duster and wazow! Back in the mood! Also just sat there like a blob and listened to some music. Music always inspires me._

 _I changed the summary for the story and one of the genres. Maybe that'll bring in more readers? I dunno. Hopefully. Also uh lessee what else was I gonna add oh yeah disregard that bit from my last story pre-A/N. Turns out there is a version of Ike with Ragnell in FE:Heroes. Noice. Also my Anna is 5* like the rest of the Crimean Crew. Hyesh!_

 _So we're gonna meet a new Duster today! Y'all ready for it? You will totally never guess who it will be! *evil laughter* Except LegolasDragonRanger. Already told her. Your vote doesn't count! Pretty sure some of you will guess it right anyway._

 _Review segment! One of my favorite parts besides writing the story._

 _At Felan Lupus: 1. Not the whole family. 2. HMM it's a mystery! 3. One of them you'll see now and one later. 4. Salem is involved but not exactly in the way y'all might think._

 _At GrnDrgnzrd: Orly? Yeah transforming into a super ranger person isn't exactly like a walk in the park. Provedwhatnow. And you know nothing Jon Snoooow! (I haven't even seen GoT but I know about it through memes). As for Raven, HMM.. *chin-rubbing contemplative emoji*_

 _At Dregolas Ragon Langer: *mashes all her reviews together* You coulda just read the whole thing thus far then reviewed, silly. Yes cool fight, also yes the bunny girl is a reporter. We'll see more of her but I'm not sure how much yet. Ozpin? Possibly. Ironwood? Maybe maybe not. Noooo not the waiting. I'll cough up nothing! Uh yeah she became a Duster nowai! Also that saying basically means that the best way to learn is when you're under pressure. Personally I can see what they mean but I disagree. Also, nah. No Enabler in this story. Another work? Possibly but not here. Although the fact that Yang and Ruby are both Dusters hiding their identity I will find ways to play for laughs. Uh spoilers are bad m'kay? Like drugs. You know what's good though? Surprises. Which spoilers ruin. And nah the day their identities come to light will be pretty far down the road._

 _Now as I write this chapter.. *goes to look up figure skating terminology and jumps*_

* * *

With a look outside the window of the SUV one would be able to see all the various slides, pools, activies, the 'lazy river', sprinkler courses, and more of Valiant's primary family recreation spot the Grand Everglade. Grand Everglade was the name of its current form as it changed over the seasons, going from a snowfall covered Christmas wonderland in winter to a refreshing water park in the summer, then a multicultural festival site in the spring and an amusement carnival in the fall. With the current weather, minor clouds and plenty of bright warm sunshine, it was perfect for a dip in the pool. Residents from all over Valiant and other parts of the Vale region would visit just for the experience.

Needless to say the Branwen and Xiao Long pairs weren't going to miss out on a prime day to be there. Everything had been put together for the day before they left. Towels, sunscreen, cosmetic items like shades and visors, umbrellas, swimsuits, a big ice chest and snacks/drinks, as well as stuff for Zwei who was riding in the back seat like the chillest dog ever with his tiny floaty wings and bad to the bone shades.

As they pulled up into a parking spot which took a few minutes to hunt down they all got out of the vehicle, ready to get in on the fun and find a spot to settle down at. Ruby and Yang saw a few kids from their school naturally. There was Jaune and his 'buddy' Cardin, those two exchange students from Mistral, the quiet girl that liked to read in the back of her home period.. No sign of Nia though. Then again she didn't get out much for this kind of stuff anyway.

"Aaaallright let's go! Full speed ahead!"

"Slow down Rubes, we still gotta get in line." Yang said, nabbing her younger cousin's collar to keep her from running off. D'oh.

Walking along with the other four members of the family they filed on in to the front gate where some others were waiting to get in as well. Right before the busiest hours too. When the place got too packed it wasn't fun like a barrel of monkeys. Not when one might as well be one of the monkeys stuffed in it.

"Hmm. Aw shoot park's closed. Well let's go home."

"Surely you can't be serious."

"I am serious and don't call me Shirley. Just messing with ya anyway."

"Not funny. I've been super looking forward to this." Ruby huffed, bumping Yang aside with her hip.

"I know, me too. All the oiled-up muscles and sun-baked booties one could ever wish for." Yang purred, making a cat noise as she nudged Ruby back into Taiyang who turned around and mouthed for them to behave. Qrow snorted in amusement at that, the blonde tugging him over and jerking her head at something. He looked past her, hand above his eyes before letting out a whistle.

"Come on slowpokes, before all the good spots are taken!" Taiyang called from in front of them. After finally making their way into the park they stood still for a moment to take in the sights as well as the smells of fresh summer foods cooking from stands and such over in the concession areas. A big sign warning about waiting an hour after eating to swim was prevalent for safety reasons. Yang was too busy letting her eyes drift over all the eyecandy walking around to notice that the others were making for a changing station by the restrooms.

"Yang let's gooo. Gotta get our swimsuits on first!"

"Oh right. Can't wait to show off this set I got." Yang grinned, slinging a bag over her shoulder.

"Let me guess, it's either flames or cheetah print." Ruby remarked sarcastically. The blonde paused with a stuttered no. That got her a skeptical look from the other girl.

"Okay yeah it's got a cool fire design. Gosh you know me so well."

"Only been living with you for like.. 15 years."

"Yeah yeah. Speaking of which I got a wicked surprise for your sweet 16 but you gotta wait to find out~" Yang teased.

"Does it involve fireworks?"

"Are you kid- Who told you?"

"I uh.. I was really joking that time." Ruby stated. Hold on was Yang serious?

"Oh. Me too. C'mon I can't wait to join the fun. I think I saw some people from my math class and I wanna go say hi." Yang said, jogging off after her dad with her cousin in tow.

...

A few minutes later they would all gather in front of the bathrooms after changing into their outfits for the day. Taiyang had on a pair of bright yellow swim trunks and a thin white tank top, flip flops on his feet. He wasn't the most muscular man around but unlike some dads he never got flabby from drinking and getting complacent. His right arm, which had a black tribal tattoo around the middle, was carrying a bag of supplies in it for the day. Water, sunscreen, etc. The food chest was sitting in the vehicle keeping chill for later.

Then out came Qrow, really much the same as he had been yesterday. Khaki cargo shorts, hawaiian shirt that he of course left unbuttoned so passing females could get an eyeful of his defined abdominals and biceps. He on the other hand unlike Taiyang kept to a firm fitness program and it showed. Of course there was always room for a drink or three too but Tai had made him promise not to bring any alcohol to the park. Raising his shades to occasionally wink and smile at someone Qrow would patiently stand by Taiyang as Zwei lay at their feet.

"Hey uh.. Tai." He suddenly asked.

"Yeah?"

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

"Uh.. To have fun? Get out of the house for a change?" Taiyang replied.

"Nah, not that. I mean why are we here? On this world? What's our purpose in life? What's real? Is there actually a god or goddess looking over us?" Qrow asked all seriously. Which prompted Taiyang to wonder..

"..Are you drunk already?"

"No I just figured with how long those two take to get ready for anything we could stand here and discuss existential philosphy."

"Hey are you calling us slow?" Ruby called from behind them, sporting a pout with arms crossed over her chest. Yang had a hand on her hip, other slack at her side as she pursed her lips at the two men.

Ruby had on a rather simple unadorned one piece sukumizu swimsuit, black with red edges however instead of the common solid dark blue and white. A faint gloss could be seen on her skin from sunscreen and she went barefoot like her cousin whose swimsuit was a two piece black bikini that perhaps intentionally showed a bit too much for Taiyang's liking. The top had a gold flame burst design on each cup, bottom having a flaming heart on the posterior side. All she had in her hands was a bottle of suntan lotion and it wasn't hard to tell what she had planned with it.

"You seriously bought that one." Taiyang stated bluntly.

"Yeah. It's pretty _hot_ don'tcha think?"

"It's a bit indecent for a girl your age."

"This sounds kinda familiar. Didn't we have this conversation yesterday dad?" Yang asked with a bit of mild annoyance in her voice.

"I-"

"Let it go Tai. I know she's your daughter but you gotta start easing up on her. She's 18. Let her have some more freedom." Qrow cut in.

Taiyang gave him a look but ultimately decided to relent as he looked between Yang and Ruby. "Alright. You two go have fun. We're going to hang out for a bit then I might jump in the big pool."

"What, not too scared for the slides and dives are ya old man?" Yang asked, further comically annoying her father.

"My twenties are behind me. I think I'll stay down here. Hey!" He suddenly raised his voice as she went to scamper off. "One hour, then you two check in with us right over there okay? That way we know you're alright."

"Got it!" And she was off, a grin on the blonde's face as she tossed the lotion bottle from hand to hand. Qrow chuckled afterwards.

"Reminds me so much of my sister. Like mother like daughter huh?"

"Yeah she was just as big a flirt too. I should've expected that." Taiyang chuckled, relaxing a little. "Still haven't heard from her have you?"

"Not since last Christmas." Qrow answered, sighing. Ruby stood there silently for a minute before stepping up to them.

"I think I'm gonna go look for some of my friends."

"Alright Ruby. Just remember-"

"-to check in? I will, don't worry."

Watching her walk off Qrow couldn't help but still get a strange feeling after. One he couldn't shake like something big was going to happen today. He didn't even notice the hand waving in front of his face.

"Hey Qrow you still there buddy? Let's go set up a spot. I brought our radio so we can catch the game today too."

"Huh? Oh yeah right behind ya- Hello." The man said, sporting a self-confident smile as he watched a long-haired ravenette with almost glimmering orange eyes pass by.

"You can go top-snatching later. C'mon."

"Really? High school was a long time ago, when are you gonna let it go?"

"When it stops being funny. I'm guessing you haven't told her how you met Summer yet huh?"

Qrow scowled as he left, muttering under his breath before starting to walk with Zwei at his heels.

...

Ruby wasn't sure but she could've sworn that she'd seen one of her homeroom friends just nearby at the front of the lazy river. Maybe she got confused.. Should she just go back and try to find Yang? Then again her cousin was probably getting lotion'd up by an attractive stranger or two by now so she'd just wait a little longer.

The girl had been slowly padding along, her silver eyes picking through heads in the slightly sparse crowd when she heard shouting and something thunking across the flat ground. A bottle of skin care oil? Well there were a good number of people out here either for a tan or just to bask in the warmth by the cool waters. Ruby leaned down to pick it up and then try to guess where it came from by the direction of both the shouting and the bottle's path. Sounded like a girl's voice..

She followed it to the source by chance after it'd calmed, an aggravated-looking teen perhaps her age or just a tiny bit older. The sight of her even had Ruby speechless for a moment.

Impeccably fair if pale skin, mesmerizing ice blue eyes, such silky smooth hair fine as snow and just as white.. Her swimsuit was a modest one, the bottom striped cyan and white and the top polka-dotted with the same colors. The only thing that really stood out against her beauty was that her otherwise pretty face was twisted in anger as she turned back over on a blue blanket with snowflakes on it. Laying underneath a tall wide umbrella the teen growled to herself as a man in black and white butler attire, gods wonder how he managed in the heat without sweating to death, walked away with a neutral expression. Well.. Might as well return this bottle and go on her way.

Ruby finally worked up the nerve to approach her, holding up said bottle. "Erm.. Excuse me?"

"What?! I said don't-"

She propped up on her elbows to look back, noticing Ruby standing there with her expensive skincare lotion and watching her with a startled expression. It almost dropped out of her hands but Ruby narrowly avoided fumbling it as she jumped. "..You're late."

"I'm sorry?"

"It's fine. I told Charle to have someone wait at the gate for you but apparently you must have slipped past them. At least you're here now so get started. Do my back first."

"I'm not.. I just came to ask if this was yours." Ruby said, offering the lotion. She just raised a brow and lay back on her stomach.

"It is mine. I know it might not be the kind you're used to but it's all I could have found on short notice. You washed your hands of course? You seem a little young too but Giles recommended you as an expert so don't disappoint me." Uhh..

There had to be some mistake going on here but she was being so insistent, and kind of scary.. Ruby decided to just go along with it so she glanced over the femme's back before kneeling beside her, gripping the bottle.

"What are you doing? You can sit over me. It's not like we're lovers, you're just giving me a massage."

"O-Oh right. Sorry." Ruby said, awkwardly straddling the back of her waist. Her face was slightly red and it got even redder when she popped the top open and worked the stuff over her hands. What- What did she do? Just start? Her hands would come down onto the other female's back, eliciting a shuddering twitch and a light gasp.

"I-Idiot! Warn me first before you start! It's cold!"

"Sorry!"

She huffed, laying her head back down as Ruby began to apply and smooth the lotion over her back. She also reminded her to make sure she got every inch. That way her skin, at least the visible parts, would look as excellent as it deserved to be. Though when her masseuse kept tugging at the string of her top to get underneath she stated that she could just undo it.

"H-Huh?"

"Undo it. It shouldn't be a big deal should it?"

Ruby was really shy about the idea of loosening her top even if she was laying down and covering herself. Thus after she ended up taking too long the white-haired girl let out a 'good grief' and reached back to undo it herself so she could continue.

Her back, her waist, her neck, sides and shoulders.. Ruby made sure to get all of those areas equally. She really had zero experience in doing this kind of thing but her dad often gave her muscle rubs when she overworked herself at P.E. or at home when doing exercises. It helped relieve a majority of the aches or strains she ended up with and so she figured maybe if she remembered how exactly he did it..

"Mmm.. You are pretty good at this even if you're awkward. Are you just an inexperienced savant?"

"A what?"

"Never mind. Now you need to do my legs so up up."

Hm? She redid her top, rolling over to look at Ruby better as she got off now that the sun wasn't in her eyes. At least they sent her a good-looking masseuse. Well she'd have preferred a professional masseur but this was fine.

"My legs. They require care too."

"Oh yeah, r-right. Okay I'm going to start now."

"I can see that." She remarked, sitting up and stretching her legs out a few times before raising the knees up a little. Ruby hesitantly began to work on her calves first after applying more oil to her hands. God this was so awkward. Hopefully she could leave soon.. "By the way, what's your name?"

"My name?" Ruby asked, pausing.

"I know, my lacking lackeys weren't exactly thorough with this so I must admit I didn't know anything about you before you got here. I almost thought this trip would be wasted.. I'm actually from Atlas but I'm here for a vacation trip. Surely you've heard of Schnee Systems Incorporated?" Actually Ruby had.. Wasn't that the big conglomerate empire that developed everything from remote operated toys and wireless tools to intelligent defence systems and military hardware/software?

"News doesn't really get between countries much according to my dad. Oh by the way I'm Ruby. So Atlas huh? That's pretty far.." Ruby noted as she began rubbing the teen's feet. If Yang decided to pass through she would be so humiliated.. Humiliated and dead probably.

"It is, but what's even further is the Fragment. Mark my words SSI will be there very very soon. In fact we might just journey to the moon too while we're at it." She added smugly, speaking of that large floating structure orbiting the broken moon that revolved and constantly changed states around The Remnant. The Remnant was their world, comprised of the five different main nations Vale, Vacuo, Atlas, Mistral, and Grove.

"The moon? Really? Wow.." Ruby said with sincere amazement. To think that humans would one day reach outer space.

"Yes, incredible I know. As Weiss Schee, youngest and heir of the Schnee family one day I'll be in charge of the operations there as well as the development of the new mechs rolling out to fight these 'monsters' cropping up all over the world. We're almost certain they're connected to the Fragment somehow."

"What about the Dusters?" So her name was Weiss? Unusual name but it was pretty. Hearing her question about the Dusters Weiss would 'hmm' thoughtfully.

"They might be connected too. Of course I don't question them as much as I do the monsters, destructive beasts.. Though I must admit the power of a Duster? It's pretty incredible. Too bad there are people who abuse it." She noted. Ruby paused. It almost sounded like she.. Nah. No way. Okay so.. Calves. Shins. Feet and ankles. She was done right? Ruby got on one leg, reaching for a nearby towel.

"Hold on. You're not done yet."

"Huh? What else do you want me to do?"

"My thighs need proper care too." Her.. Thighs? B-But- Well shoot. Weiss gave her a look and Ruby put a bit more lotion on her palms, tentatively reaching out to caress the outside of her upper legs as she put them flat to the ground. Top and sides first?

Noticing the fact that Ruby was red in the face and shaking a little as they curved towards the inner sides she let out a groan and reached for the bottle herself. "I know you might be inexperienced but there's no need to be shy. Just keep your hands where it's appropriate. I don't mind. If you can't do it though then I'll do it myself."

"It's just.. You're a girl and I've never done this sort of thing before and I'm nervous and-" Oop. Crap. Weiss' gaze narrowed and Ruby practically felt the icy scythe of Death over her neck.

"Never done this sort of thing before? You ARE a masseuse aren't you?" Gulp. Ruby was caught now. It was time to be honest and she did so very quickly.

"I'm sorry I played along alright? I was passing by and I heard your voice and this bottle came flying towards me and before I knew it you were ordering me around and-" Weiss' face heated up as realization dawned that she'd just been felt up and groped by a complete stranger, cheeks a vivid steaming pink. Never mind the fact that it was primarily her fault for making assumptions and blathering..

"P-P-Pervert! Lecher! Molester!" Weiss snapped, scooting back and pointing a finger Ruby's way with calls of 'security!'. Ruby looked mortified and embarrassed, hands held up in surrender as she tried to explain things.

"I didn't mean to! I apologize! You were just really scary and I didn't want to make you mad at me 'cause I wanted to return that bottle but then stuff happened and-" SPLASH. Ruby covered her face as water splashed all over her and Weiss, soaking them both. The source came from the pool in front of them, but what made the splash was..

"Oh come ON."

...

 ***in a different area of the park***

...

"Yeah right there, just like that.. You can be a little firmer. I can take it."

"You sure? I don't wanna hurt you or anything."

"Trust me tiger I'm tough."

"And you're calling me an animal. If that's what makes you feel good though."

"Don't be a wimp. This isn't your first time is it?"

"You kiddin'? I mean I don't usually brag but some girls come by just for my magic fingers."

"Well I'm not your typical garden flower. I like it rough."

"Well if that's the case I can go a little harder huh?"

Yang let out a content purr as he gripped her shoulders and collar, giving a firm squeeze. She'd found right away someone to 'grind her gears' and so as they sat in the shade of the watchtower the young also-blonde lifeguard set to work on Yang's stiff muscles as he kept an eye on the kiddie pool. "And when's your girlfriend coming back?"

"I keep telling you she's not my girlfriend. Just a coworker."

"Sooo when your arms get tired we can switch right?" Yang asked with a coy smile.

"Is this all you came here for?" He noted with a laugh.

"Nah. I'd say it's a bonus though. ..Oh wait what time is it? I gotta get back soon and check in."

"Lemme guess. Overprotective parents?"

"Overbearing dad." Yang answered as she got up and stretched. She grinned and perhaps flexed a little when the lifeguard gave her a wolf whistle.

"Even better." Sarcasm. "You guys gonna be here long? I could maybe get us a private visit into our employees only jacuzzi."

"You're cute but I'm gonna have to say no. I gotta look after my little cousin out here."

"Family first right? Catch ya later hot stuff." She winked back at him, then paused when she heard a splash in the distance. Over this crowd? Then a highly irregular silence. After that.. Screaming. Oh no. Her bracelet began to chirp as well and her danger sense sparked. Oh god no.

"What the- Hey wait slow down! You'll slip and hurt yourself!"

"Go call the police! I have to find Ruby!"

Yang left him in the dust as she rounded a corner, glancing left and right before jumping on top of a vending machine and then from there pulling herself to the top of the shower room. Hot hot hot! There'd be people inside but the structures on the roof? Perfect cover for her to lean against as she raised her arm.

"Just had to do this today huh? All these people here trying to have a good time.. I'm gonna crush you for this." Yang said as her bracelet burst into flames, soon engulfing her whole body.

* * *

 _What a chapter huh? Feelin' hot yet?_

 _So like.. Uh.. I dont know what happened. I realized 'hey this is getting long how many words do I have so far?' then I posted the the chappie in Doc Manager and all of a sudden boom 4k. Crud. I mean yeah I could continue but this would end up like maybe 7k or 8k once I got the rest of what I had planned in so.. Feel like it'd be too much of a jump from the average._

 _The whole massage scene I planned to be shorter but it ended up being fun to write and stick extra tidbits into so.. This may or may not be another WhiteRose thing down the road. Not sure absolutely. I could just decide to flipperflop it and make it strawberry icecream? or Falling Petals. Or who knows. Quite a few undecided things I'm working on in my head right now._

 _Anyhoot I doubt I will be able to launch another chapter before Monday. I can try though. Saturday is a long day and Sunday well ha long day and night. Next chapter though will be the full fight, the reveal of the next Duster, etc. Look forward to it!_

 _Inspectre Offline._


	8. Like a Hurricane

_Inspectre Online._

 _We're over 500 views now, nice! This story is rollin'._

 _So up next is going to be a boss fight between some Dusters and a monster. This being a water park I wonder what kind it'll be. Hmm. The answer may shock you! ..No that wasn't a pun nor was it serious._

 _Review corner!_

 _At GrnDrgnzrd: Shipteasing is fun. Expect more in the future._

 _At Felan Lupus: Hey she got to feel up Weiss. Poor? Pfft. Well how this will be resolved? Awesomely of course._

 _Short A/N this time? Aight cool beanies. Also.. Hrm. I have an M-Rated Yang x Weiss oneshot I'm thinking about putting out. The idea has been in my head for ages but I never got around to doing it or my Blake x Milliana fic (which I've started, a little)._

* * *

Weiss was looking behind herself as something towered over the two of them, water raining for a brief duration from its form in an area around it. This.. This was some kind of slime judging by the consistency of the droplets that had landed on them. A very long serpentine slime at that. Its horns, fins, spines.. Snakes didn't have horns but there were no visible limbs or wings or such either. Everything was varying shades of blue, the only separating details being where the coloration shifted.

Naturally Weiss had completely forgotten about what just happened and was now entirely focused on the new threat rising forty feet in the air. People were fleeing, screaming, lifeguards and pool security guiding them to safety. Water swirled inside the serpent's maw as it was sucked up from below and pressurized. What looked like feelers had emerged from the pool to link into other sources of water to feed it as well.

And when it hit it'd cut like a hot knife through cheese. Reacting quickly Ruby pulled Weiss out of the way before they'd be split in half as the powerful jet cleaved the ground around them. Bursting mist sprayed crushed rock and fine grit everywhere forcing them to duck and hide again.

"Okay we gotta get out of here."

"And how do you suppose we do that? We're going to be the first things it targets when we move back into the open!" Weiss snipped. Ruby didn't know but they had to think of something. A thick gelatinous tentacle the width of a suddenly slammed down beside them, missing by a foot as umbrellas and tables were smashed into bits underneath.

"Well if we don't move then we'll both be paste!"

"Okay fine! On the count of three! One..!

"Two.."

As soon as they simultaneously yelled three both girls got up from cover to try and run but with a grating roar a pulse of energy emanated from the center of the aqua monster's being. It sent a surge of rushing water in their general direction from inside the pool, one neither of them could avoid or outrun so they were swept up and washed along to tumble and crash against whatever stopped them. For Weiss that was a lunch cart, Ruby the side of a wall leading into a bathroom. The latter would hack and cough, spitting up water as she held her head. That'd hurt.. Wait no! Weiss! Where was she? The girl may have been quite a pain but she wasn't going to leave her behind!

Unfortunately the choice to do so was forced onto her as a very long-reaching gel tentacle came soaring overhead to slam down again, smashing through the roof of the building then sweeping towards Ruby as debris and wreckage piled up against it. She didn't know what compelled her to run forward instead of away, freerunning up the pieces and leaping over to just barely clear the oncoming attack. Rolling when she hit the ground Ruby decided it was now or never to change. There was at least nobody in the immediate area that could see her right? So then..

Moving and standing flat against the wall Ruby nervously looked around before reaching into her top. Out came the silver hairpin, her Scroll. She'd slid it onto the edge just for safekeeping and to have it on hand. Not like she had a place to hide the box on her as well. "Okay. Here we go.. Let's do this!"

The girl stepped forward, silver air twisting around her as she slid the rose-topped pin into her hair. This time she put it at the front, somewhere the hood would still cover but in a place that would keep her hair out of her eyes. Her swimsuit faded away, replaced by her Duster outfit. Surprisingly she felt dry as soon as the winds began to flow as well.

Scarves trailing behind her Gale would start running back towards the monster's 'lair' to try and evaluate the situation. Okay.. Giant fifty foot dragon serpent thing. It had a body that could change consistency and channel water which it was doing by sucking it up from other areas in the park. ..And steadily growing as a result. Not good. Oh and so far she could control the air and had a really sharp scythe which was about as effective as trying to use a net to catch oxygen. Still she could at least distract it until the military arrived but would they be able to do anything about it? Her other option was to find some secret weak point she could exploit or hope a Duster with super effective abilities showed up.

Noticing that the monster was changing its focus from her Gale would frown and reach her hand out at her side. A spiraling mini tornado saw that scythe return in her grip, the wind continuing to flow around it instead of calming. "I gotta do something before it destroys this whole place or hurts any more people. How about.. This!"

Gale started running forward, twirling that scythe in her hand before reaching over to grip it with both now and give a powerful sidelong swing sending a furious crescent wave of visible air at the monster. It hit hard and fast, slicing through and actually.. It actually cut the beast in two at around the twenty foot mark! The upper half would topple as it let out a screech, waters making a great splash and starting up another temporary rainfall when it fell in. Spinning the scythe and planting it bottom-first into the ground Gale would smirk.

"And that is how it's done. Oh yeah, uh huh, oh ye- Oh no."

It was far from done. If anything the creature just looked angry as its halves melted down and reformed, slowly rising to tower over the park again with an angry glint in its eyes. Gale grimaced and yanked her scythe free, holding it at an angle now as she prepared for retaliation. Which came swiftly as what might as well be cannonballs of water shot from its mouth. Hard ones too solidified like ballistics gel yet exploded with great force once they hit something. Thankfully the Duster was fast and light on her feet, dashing and flipping and somersaulting/sliding around the creature's attacks until she ended up slipping and eating the floor. Her scythe tumbled out of her hands just beyond her reach to make things even worse. How could she-

Wait she didn't slip.. There was something wrapped around her ankle! A writhing tentacle of.. Lemonade? So this thing could control not just water but all liquids in an area greater than she'd assumed. Damn! The next cannonball was a big one, taking longer to charge but undoubtedly it'd be a killshot once it hit. Gale looked up with worry as she tugged as hard as she could but its suction grip was too strong. If she could just get an angle to swipe at it with a small blade of wind..! Too late. The shot was fired, Gale throwing two straight punches at the same time to try and stop it with blunt gusts of air. It would have barely any effect.

At least not compared to a violently explosive blast that completely destroyed the oncoming attack. Blinking, Gale's chest swelled with relief as she saw the back of the leather-clad Duster Ember. Her body heat evaporated the resulting water on her body in seconds, steam coming off as she stomped the base of the tentacle holding Gale to force it to release her.

"Ember!"

"Fancy meeting you here new kid. You might be a little more outta your league this time." Ember stated, helping her up.

"Says the FIRE type Duster. Don't you play Pocket Monsters?" Gale shot back, not even paying attention to the fact that her scythe spun back into her reach and she caught it without looking.

"Your rules ain't my rules. I'll just boil this thing like mac 'n cheese and go home." Ember said with a confident grin. Until several tentacles formed from nearby puddles and spills snatched at her, dragging her away from Gale and suspending her in the air. They bound her ankles, wrists, even looped around her neck.

"Ember!"

"I'd be into this if it weren't trying to kill me with 'em.." She muttered, a flare of heat beginning to evaporate her bindings before they hardened further. Oh crap.

Suddenly whistling swings severed them and she was free, Gale having 'flown' up to cull them with her scythe. Ember flipped and landed back on her feet with a "Hup!" as she glared back at the creature, standing by her partner. "Okay so.. Your turn to come up with a plan."

"Mine? You're the experienced one!"

"Alright. Don't get hit, hit it until it dies."

"That is not a plan."

"But it works every time if you do it right." Ember noted, looking up as several tree-sized tentacles stretched from the pool. She brought up her armored gauntlets, wondering if she could actually block and tank such a blow. Ultimately decided against it as they reached their apex before dropping, crushing rock and debris underneath as both Dusters split and evaded the lashing tentacles as best they could.

This time however as each one landed Gale would flip and swing her scythe to cut them off. It worked for the most part as they took time to regenerate but that didn't stop the creature from simply growing more either. This place was going to be in ruins by the time they actually found a way to put it down for good..

Ember growled as she picked up a lifeguard tower, hurling it towards the beast's head. Something Gale definitely noted as odd was the way it leaned aside to try and avoid it instead of just letting it harmlessly break apart on its face. Hmm..

"Hey Ember!" The girl shouted.

"What?"

"You think this thing is like a video game slime? Maybe it has a core in its head!"

"That's just-" Wait. That would make sense. She hadn't noticed herself but thinking back it was common in games featuring powerful gel enemies to have a core that was weak to attacking if one could reach it.. "So then how do we reach it? Good luck getting it to stay still!"

"Launch me!" What.

Gale then flew at Ember, jumping in a crouch with knees to her chest like a loaded spring. Oh so that was her plan. Catching on quickly the blonde pulled both fists behind her, meeting Gale halfway and revealing her palms so she would send her flying back rather than break her ankles. Gale twisted, spinning her scythe with one hand like a deadly top through the air and by a mighty swing split into the creature from between its eyes to the back of its head. Success!

Unfortunately though while she noticed something a bright cyan with a pristine and crystalline glimmer her attack had been short of actually damaging it. But that confirmed her idea. When she landed again, Gale swerved around dodging lashing tentacles or just cutting through them to get to Ember so she could relay what she found out.

"Okay so it does have a weak point. ..Ya nerd."

"Hey!"

"Now how do you expect us to actually get to it and take it down? Not sure that'll work twice."

Gale's response was an 'uhh' before another roar left the sea serpent. Another pulse of energy.. Oh crap here it came! This time a huge tidal wave of water would be sent their way having gathered from every source in the park it could access. Everything from broken furniture to garbage cans and trashed carts was gathered up in its path, rubble too. Gale wasn't even certain she could jump over it in time and splitting it was a laughable scenario.

"Well we're boned."

"Might I have a try at this?" Someone called. Cue crackling and clicking noises as a dome of ice formed around the two Dusters, somehow withstanding the mini tsunami as it pounded against and submerged the makeshift shelter. Who-?

A.. Figure skater? No this had to be another Duster! Thank cheesus it was an ice-based Duster too. For the second time today Gale/Ruby's breath caught as she turned to face them. Such fine and flawless light skin, largely exposed by the appropriate dress she wore. It was pale blue, very short frill skirt edged by a snowflake pattern of solid white. Her ice skates matched the dress, white with blue laces and contrasting red blades on the bottom. Gloves covered her arms from fingertip to bicep, a ring on her right hand. She had such perfect snow-white hair too in an off-center ponytail, just brushing against the side of a whattheHellwasthat.

A mask of ice covered her face, hollowed eyeholes revealing black sclera with white rings and very small white pupils. The area around her mouth was exposed by a Cheshire frown cutout, lined with nothing but canine fangs to give her a very menacing appearance that was a stark difference to the rest of her. Gale even shuddered when she saw it.

"Knock yourself out. ..Talk about seeing a friendly face eh?" Ember said to Gale, the unidentified Duster glaring at her with an "I heard that.".

"I'm not here to be chummy or make friends. I'm just here to slay this thing before it can destroy anything else. Which you two seemed to have failed miserably at." She extended her hand out towards the wreckage of the water park, the only things left standing being areas behind it and on the perimeter as well as a few buildings that hadn't been directly struck by the creature.

"Look we're trying our best okay?" Gale huffed.

"Well your best needs to be better. I suppose you at least helped everyone escape to safety so that's something." Ember watched the new Duster slide forward, ice forming instantaneously for her to continue moving on right at the edges of her skates. The blades were seeping a chilling mist so she presumed that they froze moisture in the air by her feet to allow her to skate a path anywhere she chose. Handy.

"Well for your information I'm still learning okay?"

"Yeah she's my partner, and my student so cut her some slack."

"Fire and air are your types am I correct?" There was a heavy thud as something struck the dome, cracking it just a tad. Gale looked out to see a thick tentacle pushing down on it and she gripped her scythe.

"Yeah yeah I know. We're kinda.. Out of our _element_."

"..You're awful." The snow-haired femme said before making a shooing motion behind her. The back side of the dome split and shattered, water spilling about the entrance as it began to also leak through the growing cracks. "Let's go. I have a plan to deal with this creature. You just have to distract it a little bit and break its defences while I prepare."

"Hey I can be hard to ignore so allow me!"

The three of them rushed out of the ice shelter as it collapsed, the tentacle withdrawing as the monster looked down on them. Ember would punch her fists together, inhaling and then exhaling as a golden light filled her mouth. "Dragon Breath!" Flames shot out from it and along a straight path to the pool the creature was inhabiting, drying up the lane as Gale rushed forward with her scythe. Sharp swings severed smaller tentacles and with spinning slashes she cut at the base of the main body before sliding sideways to avoid the counterstrike of an exploding water ball.

"There's a core in its head! If you destroy it I'm pretty sure that'll take it down!"

"It's a slime! Of course it has a core!" The skating Duster shouted back as she stood straight, holding up her hand. With the crackling of freezing moisture a gun began to form. The design was most similar to a Colt .45 'Peacemaker', obviously made with a theme to fit the one wielding it. It had an ice white cylinder, light blue barrel and frame with a cyan trigger and rounds inside the gun and a snowflake emblem on both sides of the handle.

After forming, the gun was leveled and aimed at the monster, timed consecutive shots fired off with a two hand grip. Each bullet that hit froze a section of its body a short hop above the previous one, greatly reducing its mobility. Appreciating that those two Dusters at least managed to give her room to continue with her plan she then began to slide forward and pick up speed as the gun was tossed aside and it shattered into ice shards before disappearing.

"Look out!" Gale shouted as tentacles sprouted anew from the ground before her. Great. Guess she'd have to handle it all herself huh? With amazing grace and fluidity the Duster spun on the front spike of one ice skate, her other leg stretched straight out before she dipped and the blade of that extended foot scratched along the surface of the wet ground. A freezing effect raced ahead of her as she spun and drug it, turning those tentacles into ice sculptures.

Pushing up now she performed a pirouette that transitioned into a double axel jump onto the closest one. With a cartwheel she landed on another, sliding down and then twirling through the air to a third before frontflipping onto a fourth. Gale actually stopped to watch her as did Ember, both pretty impressed by her acrobatics and finesse.

Reaching the edge of the pool unscathed, the mysterious Duster would crouch and leap onto her target which was the first of those frozen sections she'd made with her sharpshooting. Small jutting spikes gave her footholds to ascend the creature, section by section until she was near the top. Each tap of her skates further spread the freezing effect to boot, making it harder for it to try and move or defend itself.

But as its head was still untouched there was nothing to stop it from charging another pressurized water beam attack. Both of the females on the ground shouted for her to watch out for it which just irked her as it was so incredibly obvious though her only visible option was to jump off. ..About thirty feet below to the ground. She couldn't exactly make an ice slide from thin air and she couldn't trust them to catch her either.

What she could do though was hold out her hand, jumping sidelong as the beam fired and bore a hole in the ground below it. This time a very pointy ice pick formed in her palm, the object stabbed into the monster and freezing a small piece of it to keep embedded into. Was she going to fall or be shook off? Not a chance. She just swung her legs as the revolver also reformed in her other hand. Another salvo of shots sent into its chest area made a blossoming flower of ice with plenty of ledges she could swing to and then jump off of to the top. Now to deliver the setup for the finisher.. Her melee weapon would make its debut this time as once more ice froze around her hands and grew in sharp jutting motions.

A cup-hilt rapier was the design that appeared from the shattering formation, a white snowflake printed on the icy blue guard. Dusters really chose a color scheme and stuck with it didn't they? A silver blade extended from it and the knuckle guard sported very short but nonetheless sharp spikes. The pommel too.

The rapier, so appropriate for a lady such as herself was brandished with a swipe and then raised in a double reverse grip, impaling the monster through its skull once dropped and casting the entire head into hard ice. Now all that was left was to break it apart and expose the co- Oh. ..Well blast. She'd need one of them to do it.

So as if she weren't irritated by her lack of options in dealing high impact kinetic violence the Duster stepped to the edge of the creature and would lean over, sliding down the body at great speed. The second she touched ground she turned her skates at an angle and slid to a stop between them.

"And that is how it's done. I assume one of you can deal the finishing blow. I don't have to do all of the work do I?"

"..You don't have any big weapons do you ice queen?" Ember asked, crossing her arms.

"Quiet you blonde sow!" She responded with a growl. "And the name is _Frost_. Remember it."

"Ooh feisty. Guess I can take care of it then."

"Hold on. Lemme try. I've never summoned my gun before. I mean I should have one right?" Gale spoke up as Ember began to approach the mostly frozen solid monster. It was effectively incapacitated now, unable to do anything.

"Sure. Give it a _shot_." Ember snickered.

Thinking and reflecting on how she summoned her scythe, Gale would take a few breaths while Frost muttered something about 'amateurs' under her breath. This was wasting time..

Silver winds picked up and much in the same way her scythe formed they flowed in a longways pattern, twisting and shaping until they dispersed. Now in Gale's hands was a pretty big gun shaped much like a M82 .50 anti-materiel rifle, featuring what else but a polished red and black color scheme and a couple of standard attachments such as a bipod, scope, etc. Gale let out a gasp of surprise as she inspected it top to bottom while hefting it in her hands.

"Do you even know how to use a gun?" Frost asked, pulling her out of her trance. Without answering she then knelt and positioned both herself and the gun, taking the safety off and taking a calming breath or two.

"Well I didn't know how to use mine. I just sorta.. Figured it out somehow." Ember added. "Looks like she's doing good so far. Scrolls are pretty handy for that stuff huh?"

"Do you even know where to aim? Can you take the recoil? If you're seriously going to do this I'd hurry before it starts to thaw-" Cue a soft exhale and a squeeze of the trigger.. BANG. Frost jumped and covered her ears. That thing was LOUD.

Loud and very powerful, the round pierced through the ice and split the core dead center. It must have contained a lot of energy because the entire head then exploded afterwards. Following that, deep cracks ran along and split further down as its body began to melt from hardened gel to normal water which in turn caused the frozen segments to crash and splash in the pool or onto the floor around it. Shards flew and ice dust glittered in the air as Frost let out a sigh of relief. Finally that thing was dead with a capital D. Gale would for the second time place the butt of her weapon against the ground with a smirk. As for Ember..

"Well. Good job team! Y'all did great work out there!" *smack* The blonde grinned as she slapped Frost on her somewhat exposed rear, copping a feel before the other girl swung on her with an open palm and missed.

"What is it with you and grabbing butts?" Gale asked, not sure if she should be amused or disapproving.

"It's my way of giving a high five. Except more like a low five if ya think about it."

"Keep your hands off of me you perverted cow! I've already been felt up by some stranger once already today!" Frost yelled indignantly.

"With such nice skin I'd be tempted to touch it too. Okay I see your 'point'." Ember said, hands up in mock surrender as thin cold steel was aimed at her neck. It just as quickly disappeared as sirens were heard nearing the area. About time wasn't it?

The three of them looked around at the destruction and then realized maybe they shouldn't have stood around waiting as the police cruisers carefully drove into the area. Officers armed with pistols and other light firearms began to emerge from their cars, one in particular dressed in dark green trousers and a white polo shirt with suspenders on coming to the front of the squad. Judging by the badge on the left suspender that had to be Commissioner Dale.. Oh boy. Ember knew him already but not as a Duster. At least not personally anyway.

"My god.. What happened here?"

"We took care of the creature that was about to level this place to the ground, not that your paltry bullets and nightsticks would have been able to stop it even if they got here on time." Frost said with a frown, stepping towards him. Ooh that was harsh. True but harsh.

"Look at this place, you might as well have done it yourself! Do you realize the sheer amount of property damage you've all done? Do you have any idea the paperwork- The money that it will take to fix all this?" The man shouted back, his offers looking uneasy in their vests and helmets as they watched the argument unfolding.

"Excuse me? How dare you! We saved people from being killed by that creature because of your slowness and inability to do so! The police aren't equipped to handle something like this, so you should be thankful! Not berating us because this place took some damage!"

"Pot kettle black." Ember noted, Gale thumping her shoulder to whisper that she was not helping as the commissioner stabbed a finger in the white-haired girl's direction.

"You people think you're heroes. Sure a few of you are, you do good things for the people of Vale and I won't deny that but SOME of you-!" He looked in Ember's direction and she averted her gaze, whistling nonchalantly. "-need to learn some restraint!"

"Sometimes it can't be avoided. If we hadn't shown up when we did you'd be stepping over a lot more than just trash and water. People could have died. It's only because of us that there's still anything to salvage so why don't you just leave? There's nothing else for you to do here so just shoo, push some pencils or something or whatever it is you actually do in your office. I swear, even the parking meter maids in Atlas are more efficient at their jobs than you slow dunderheads." Frost said with a cross of her arms. Dale grumbled and reached for his waist.

"Alright missy, you're coming to the station. If you want to run your mouth you can do it in a cell for destruction of public property."

"What?!"

Frost looked shocked as he stepped forward, unclipping a set of handcuffs from his belt. She in turn stepped back with a wary gaze. Much to her amazement a mane of blonde hair appeared in the corner of her eye.

"You wanna take her you gotta get past me, and you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

"Ember.."

"Don't jump in too Gale." She said rather seriously. Commissioner Dale would scowl in response.

"I have plenty of room in the holds for all three of you if you wish to make things worse for yourselves. You-"

"S-Sir.."

"What?"

He looked back, then took a step away seeing a tall and well-built man dressed in a trench coat with the gold insignia of a double helix printed upon a shield on the left pectoral. Short white crew cut, tan skin, dead serious look on his face.. 'RAMSU' was printed on the back of his trench coat and something about him just put it right out there that he was 100% work and no play.

"Who are you? This isn't a place for civilians to be right now. I suggest-"

"Remnant Anti-Monster Suppression Unit Cmdr. Volk." He said with a rough voice thus clarifying what the acronym stood for. Something nobody present had heard of before and the Commissioner began to question until a white envelope with an official seal and signature on the front was removed from the coat and present by a gloved hand. That symbol alone..

He took it, slitting the envelope with a letter opener and removing the folded printed paper. None of the Dusters were able to read his barely moving lips. The way his eyes widened though.. Told a lot about the contents.

"I-I see. Well then Commander Volk. I-"

"These three are hereby excused."

"You mean-"

"I don't repeat myself." A bold and dominant customer this man was.. His eyes narrowed on Dale and a shiver ran up his back, not just because of the difference in their frames akin to a pot-bellied hog standing before a fully grown bear.

"Understood. You three best be going now." The commissioner said with a bit of a forced respectful tone. Ember quickly grabbed their arms and began walking off while they had the chance. Talk about a miracle but sheesh, that Volk guy was intimidating..

"Alright. Get to work. I want this place scoured for every bit of information and salvageable evidence. Any parts of the creature still intact, anything we could gleam about those Dusters, it gets bagged and tagged."

"Sir? We- We don't exactly have the tools on hand at the moment-"

"Hm? Oh, not you. Pay me no mind." Volk said as he held two fingers to an earpiece. In moments a black helicopter accented by gold marks and metal designs would fly overhead, armored troopers emerging from the interior by the sides of men and women dressed in white coats and holographic glasses. "Just pretend we were never here.."

* * *

 _Uuuuugh that took forever. Not 100% sure that's exactly how I wanted to end the chapter but this specific scenario is not complete yet. We'll see a bit more of RWY before they split and the show goes on._

 _So yeah apologies for the delay. Last week was busy, this week I just got sidetracked by all the things. I proofread and checked before I finished up so hopefully I've made no speling misteaks. Sidetracks including Fire Emblem Heroes, watching Devil May Cry playthroughs, adding new music (mostly One Punch Man remixes) to my playlist, etc. And Hades' Star I recently got on my phone. Speaking of Google Play games Iron Marines looks good but I've yet to try it, didn't know Sonny was remade for Android along with Cursed Treasure 2.. Also how about that Death Battle upcoming? Thor vs Wonder Woman. Not sure who my Lien is on but my vote goes for Thor. Norse mythology and all but if WW wins I won't be really shocked._

 _So I don't think I'll have another chapter this week, no promises of any writing either so if I disappear for a bit that's why. Also getting my hands on X-Com 2 so that will definitely bite into my schedule. Plus Netmarble has Lineage 2 lined up for pre-register on GP. Pretty sure they did Seven Knights right? I love Seven Knights, shame I missed the Blazblue collab blaaah!_

 _Anyway enough rabbling. Except a reminder of new seasons of Miraculous Ladybug and RWBY coming up! And Monster Hunter World soon get hype._

 _Inspectre Offline._


	9. Short Break (Sorry!)

Urgh.. Inspectre here. Not a chapter unfortunately. Just a notice I am going on a short break rather than leaving y'all clueless and waiting. I haven't lost my moose- I mean muse for writing or my motivation, just it's more forcibly allocated to other things like work, games, etc.

Also watching Dragon Ball Super to get caught up on it, and the Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid anime. Loved the manga and KANNA IS SO ADORABLE(R). Just remember though guys, ravioli ravioli. Speaking of anime (or web animation or whatever you prefer to call it) RWBY VOLUME 5 IS LIVE. Which is awesome because that rhymes. I've been dying to roleplay more RWBY stuff on ReignofBlood too but schedule uuugh. I want to work on my dozens of OCs now. And how about Yang's character short? Good stuff. Didn't know she could use frickin' homing shells. Maybe that's a Dust enhancement or special shells.

So yeah TL;DR I'm occupied. Taking a bit of time too on how to proceed with the story and I may seriously write that Weiss x Yang oneshot M+ fic. Might turn out better than my other Freezerburn. I mean I'm satisfied with it but some people have voiced opinions on a few flaws so..

Anyway peacizzles my homissiles. Inspectre signing off.


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